Suzaku no Yogen
by Amaya Shinkuyoake
Summary: (R rating starts re: Ch 10)Two university students discover a strange book in their school library, and are swept into the ShiJinTenChiSho...with no memory of why they opened the book in the first place.
1. Prelude: Research Paper

Author's Note:

Yes, a small part of this fic has been posted before on this forum.  It was posted years ago by my co-author at the time and muse, Iris, when I was writing under the penname Elwing.  Recently I have reexamined the story and found that it is really worth bringing back, with only a few minor changes, and one major one, which anyone who might actually have read the fic before will notice.  I feel it makes the whole story make a lot more sense and also makes it less "fangirl-y".  I will say right upfront, **this was written as a self-insertion**.  No need to deny it, and the major problem I have fixed relates to that.  If you are willing to overlook that minor sin, I implore you to enjoy my small contribution to the fandom of one of the most wonderful anime out there.

And of course, Fushigi Yuugi DOES NOT belong to me.  *sniffles*  There.  Happy now?

Now, without any further ado, I present to you:

Suzaku no Yogen 

Prelude:

Research Paper

"I can't believe the stupid Prof. made our whole mark dependant on one project!" Elwing muttered unhappily to herself as she strode across the St. Francis University campus to the library, "Oh well, at least I picked an interesting topic. I can't imagine how bored the student who has to do 'Balinese Cock-fighting' is going to 

be. He's covered it so many times in class." she shook her head, "No, it may not be what I originally wanted, but 'Ancient Chinese Mythology' is, at least, interesting, and he hasn't done it to death in class." She sighed and went into the library. 

She spent a few minutes looking up call numbers in the computer, then headed upstairs with scrap paper in hand to peruse the mythology section. There was an odd stillness in the air, but she hardly noticed it. After all, it was a library. She found the section she was looking for, and began scanning the shelves, looking for anything which sounded fairly comprehensive. 

'Hmm… ' she thought to herself, _Modern Buddhism_? Don't think so… _The Chinese Animal Calendar_? Too specific… what else is there? _The Four Gods' Sky and_… what the heck is THIS doing here?' 

At this point Elwing's thoughts dissolved into turmoil. She was a definite Anime fan, and quite familiar with Fushigi Yuugi (although "engrossed by" would probably be a more appropriate way to refer to describe that familiarity). Certainly she knew well enough not to open the book on her own. But take it out? Maybe get Iris for company? If she left it in her res. apartment one of her roommates would be sure to notice it. It was a temptation no even mild fan of Fushigi Yuugi could ignore, and she was far from that. She stood up from her seat on the floor (she hadn't even noticed her legs collapsing out from under her) and reached her hand out, trembling, to pick it up off the shelf. She looked at the cover. On the front it said, in bold, gold-embossed letters, _The Four Gods' Sky and Earth,_ and under this, in smaller type, _English Translation_.  The cover itself was a deep red. What really caught her attention, though, was that there was no library identification or call number on it. This seemed odd, but from what she suspected, and what she knew of this book, Elwing figured it shouldn't surprise her. She was certainly too hyped up to consider further research materials right now, so she decided she might as well go back to the apartment. She went down the stairs and out of the library. Since the book had no call number, she surmised that the library had no knowledge of its existence, and certainly would have no objections to her exiting with book in hand. And she was right. The librarian didn't even seem to see it, although she certainly took no pains to conceal it. 

Elwing strode confidently out the heavy oak doors of the library and down the sidewalk until she was past the library windows, then sat down on the nearby steps, hands trembling violently. She clasped them tightly together to try to still them. 

"This is getting really weird!" she said, the quiver in her voice echoing her hands. "I really have to call Iris." 

Resolved in actually doing something, she strode boldly back through the campus to her apartment without any further cases of the shakes. Her roommates were all out, so she had the whole place to herself. Which was just as well, as what she was about to say would certainly prompt most listeners to class her as insane.  With trembling fingers she dialed Iris's number. Luckily, Iris herself answered. 

"Hello?" 

"Hi, Iris, it's Elwing. Um, you're not going to believe this, but, well… You remember that Cultural Anthropology project I told you about? You have to come here RIGHT NOW and see what I found in our most wonderful school library." 

"Elwing, are you OK? You sound like you're scared or something!" 

"Scared, excited, a million other things; you'd feel the same if you found it." 

"Found what?" 

"A book. You do remember what my project was on, don't you?" 

Iris was getting annoyed, "I thought it was Chinese Mythology, so what?"

"So what?! SO WHAT?! You forgot a word in there… Ancient." 

"OK, so it's Ancient Chinese Mythology, I still don't see how any book could scare you." 

"I'm afraid to open it. I don't know what might happen." 

"But can't you just tell me the name of it?" 

"I'm barely hanging on to sanity at the moment. I'm afraid if I say the name out loud I'll completely loose it. Think of any books to do with Ancient China which you would be scared out of your wits to open on your own.  Any book you've ever heard of." 

"The only one I can think of, if it existed, would be the _Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho_." 

"Exactly." Elwing whispered, "so would you GET OVER HERE!" 

"Oh, Goddess, you must be kidding!" said Iris, stunned. 

"I kind of wish I was." Elwing admitted.

"I don't know what's going on, but I'll be right over." Iris assured her friend. 

The half hour it took Iris to arrive almost drove Elwing crazy. She sat in one corner of the living room, as far from the book as she could physically be without losing sight of it. When Iris finally knocked on the door, she just about jumped out of her skin. 

"S'open." She called, and stood up. 

Iris came in, carrying a heavy bookbag and dressed in comfortable clothes suited to tramping around the countryside. 

"So, you do believe me then." Elwing said, taking in her friend's appearance. 

"I just thought I'd better be prepared for every eventuality. Is that it?" she asked, noticing the book across the room. 

"That's it." 

Iris walked across the room to look at it, still half-disbelieving.  She stopped when she got close, however. "It's… pulling me, somehow." 

"I noticed that myself, that's why I was sitting way over here." 

"I just couldn't believe it. Not until I saw it with my own eyes." 

"I understand.  Would you watch it while I pack?" 

"Sure." Iris agreed. "Hey," she called after, "do you think an English translation will work the same way?"

"I'm not sure, but I assume the only difference would be in the language… I hope.  In any case, as you said, prepare for every eventuality." 

Elwing quickly rifled through her drawers, packing everything she thought she might need (and a couple of nice dresses) into her backpack. At the last minute, she remembered her project, and threw in a clipboard and some notepaper. 

"Good thing our Prof. said we could use any format we liked!  Although I suspect he might be a little disbelieving, I'll take him a case-study." She grinned, "After all, I am very likely going to experience Ancient Chinese Mythology firsthand!" Since she was already wearing jeans and a t-shirt, she threw on a heavy purple fleece shirt and her Gore-Tex jacket, slung her well-supplied camera over one shoulder, and settled her backpack on her back. 

When she walked into the living room, Iris was resettling her own pack on her back. They looked at each other. 

"Shall we?" Elwing asked. 

"I guess we shall." Iris grinned shakily. 

Gripping each other's hands for encouragement, they walked to the table on which_ The Four Gods' Sky and Earth_ sat.  Elwing reached out and gingerly opened the cover.  The first page had only a few lines of writing on it. 

"It says... 'This is the story of two girls who traveled to Suzaku's country to speak prophesy. They foretold destinies and found truths. The story itself is an incantation. Whosoever finishes reading it will receive this power. As the page is turned, the story will become real and begin.'  Well, at least that gives us an idea what we'll be doing." Elwing pointed out after reading the first page. 

"And where we're going." Iris added. 

"Not when though." 

"I'd assume it's sometime after the Miko, or why would they need prophesy?" 

"Good point. It could be long before them too, though.  Well, here goes nothing!" Elwing took a deep breath and turned the page. 

As she did this, her roommate Catherine was walking down the hall to their apartment.  All of a sudden, a red light glowed under the door, and she heard a strange, almost melodic, scream.  She ran the last few steps, yanked the door open and ran into the living room just in time to see a glowing red patch disappear from the floor and a fiery, red feather float down onto the open book.  Confused, she picked up the book and began to read. 


	2. Chapter 01: Arrivals

And here is Chapter One for you.  This is all I'm posting until the middle of July, since I will be going away and won't be able to upload anything from my Palm (which is where I keep and work on my stories)  In the meantime, let me know what you think of it, and I'll have more of it when I get back (I have up to Chapter 11 typed, although they need to be gone back over and double-checked before I will post)

Chapter 01: 1

Arrivals

As they traveled through the dimensional gap, try though they might, Elwing and Iris just couldn't hold onto one another.  They were separated and dropped quite distant from each other.  As they fell, they swiftly forgot all they knew of this world they were entering, or rather, their knowledge was buried deep in their psyches, as a story they had heard once, but mostly forgotten over time.

Elwing suddenly became aware of a change in the sensation of falling. Instead of falling as though in a dream, she was really falling!  She opened her eyes just in time to see that she was going to fall in water, and, somehow, her pack was already on the ground. She had only enough time to take one deep breath before she hit the water.  In two ways she was lucky, first, that she was a good swimmer, and second, that she was falling sortof feet first.  She scissored her arms and legs as she struck the water, and popped right back to the surface… only to discover that she was not unobserved in this rather undignified arrival.  Sitting on a rock on the shore of this lake she had fallen into was someone who, by what she could see of him, looked strangely familiar. 

"Daaa!" He called, "It's a good day for a swim, no da." 

'And that clinches it.' Elwing thought to herself as she swam to shore, 'I'm sure I know that voice and inflection, not to mention the strange turn of phrase, but where from?  Somehow I'm sure I've seen and heard him before.' 

She struggled ashore and dragged herself, dripping and bedraggled, out of the water by her pack.  The strangely familiar blue-haired man walked over and helped her to her feet. 

"Cute outfit, but wouldn't it be easier to swim without all those layers, no 

da?" 

"If I thought I might go swimming, believe me, I would have dressed more appropriately.  I certainly wouldn't have worn jeans.  Now I'll never get them dry!  Oh well, at least I have a dry change of clothes." Elwing began scanning the surroundings for somewhere to divest herself of her sopping raiment. 

"There's a bush over there, no da." he pointed out. 

"Thanks." Elwing said, and went quickly over to hide before she blushed bright red. 'He's so cute!' she thought, 'What luck! I can't decide whether the luck is good or bad.  I land practically in the lap of a guy who is SOOO cute!' she sighed, blushing red at the tips of her ears, 'but I look AWFUL! It's not exactly the first impression I would have wanted.  I wonder if Iris fared any better?' 

When Iris realized she was falling through air, she had only enough time to emit a startled "Eep!" before she crashed down into a pile of hay outside what she assumed to be a barn.  The sole human occupant of the barn at that moment heard the sound and frowned. 

"Shit!" he swore, "What the Hell was that?" he put down the currycomb he'd been using on his horse and went outside. 

At first, all he could see was a mangled pile of hay surrounded by a pile of dust, then all of a sudden there was a loud sneeze. 

"Who the Hell is that?" he exclaimed.

'I know that foul mouth from somewhere!' Iris thought to herself as she shook her head and sent spears of straw flying in all directions, 'Or maybe it just reminds me of someone in a story?  I'd better play it cool, though.  Gotta make sure I don't scare him off, he sounds sexy!'  Iris shoved her way out of the pile of straw. 

To the young man observing, it looked rather as though she emerged from a giant cloud of smoke, the gray hay dust having not yet settled. 

"It's just me!" she called. 

"Sure, but who the Hell are you, anyway?" Tasuki demanded. 

"Oh, my name's Iris.  Could you tell me where I am, please?" 

"Where you are?  How the Hell could you get here without knowin' where you are?"  The redhead reevaluated her and noticed for the first time her strange garments. "You're from the other world, aren't you?" 

"I suppose you could say that.  This certainly doesn't look like where I came from.  I'd still like to know where I am, though." 

"Oh, perfect, just what we fuckin' needed, more girls from the other world." He muttered to himself. "You're in my bandit headquarters on Mount Reikaku in the highlands of Konan-koku." 

"Oh, I see.  Is there another girl like me around here anywhere?" 

"Another?  Shit, no, you're the only one like you around here." 

Iris blushed and pushed her hair behind one ear, only to discover that it was full of straw.  'I must look like a scarecrow!  What a first impression to make on the cutest guy ever!' she thought, and her cheeks burned. 

"Well, I suppose I hafta take you to the Imperial Palace." Tasuki sighed. 

"I'm not going anywhere looking like a scarecrow." Iris insisted, attempting to pick straw out of her normally luxurious, shoulder-length, wavy, black hair. 

"Women!" he muttered to himself, "Now I fuckin' remember why I fuckin' hate women!  Look.  Obviously we're not goin' anywhere right away.  I just got back here myself, and I'm sure as shit not goin' right off again without some food and a sleep in my own bed, so would you at least come inside?" 'Where I can keep an eye on you.' he added to himself. 

'I hope Elwing landed near someone just as helpful.' Iris thought to herself as she graciously accepted the offer of a room. 

Behind the bush, Elwing struggled to get her soaking wet jeans off.  After a couple of minutes, she managed to get them over her feet, and only at that time realized that she had no towel.  The best she could do was a large face cloth, but, obviously, that was not exactly going to get her much drier than she was at present, which was not at all.  Quickly stripping off the rest of her water-saturated clothes, she first squeezed the water out of her long blonde braid, then mopped, as best she could, her body with the small square of cloth.  Once the face cloth was completely soaked, she gave up.  Luckily, she had packed lots of clean, dry clothes, and, although she was still damp, she didn't want to be sitting around with nothing on, so she pulled out some more good tramping clothes, but this time, substituted black stretch pants for jeans.  Gathering up her wet clothes and carrying them as far from her as possible, she emerged from behind the bush. 

"Well, are you dry, no da?" her present companion asked, "Hey, who are you anyway?  You're from the other world, I can tell that much for sure, no da." 

"Oh, I'm sorry, I guess I was kindof rude.  My name's Elwing.  I was supposed to arrive with another girl… You haven't seen anyone else around here, have you?" 

"Just you, no da." 

"Hmmm…  Well, that doesn't make any sense, we left together." 'Maybe she landed on a cute guy too.' she thought, and smirked as a picture of Iris falling from the sky directly onto some poor unsuspecting guy's head popped up before her mind's eye. 

"I'm sure you'll find her, no da. Oh, and my name's Chichiri, no da." 

"Pleased to meet you." Elwing said politely, and began laying her clothes out on the bush she had hidden behind.  She looked in despair at her jeans and heavy purple polarfleece top, then at the sun, which was only about two hours from setting.  "It may be warm now, but these things are never going to get dry before dark, to say nothing of me."  She sighed, "You wouldn't happen to know of someplace I could stay for the night?" she asked Chichiri, digging in her bag for her hairbrush.  Loosing her waist-length hair from its confinement, she began working the brush through it to speed its drying, "Mind you, it's not as though I have anything to pay with… " she suddenly sat down, dejected, "Nothing is going right here." she moaned, "I'm soaking wet, I have no idea where I am, let alone where Iris is, even though I have the strangest feeling I should, and I don't even know where I'm going to stay for the night!" she held her head in her hands and tried to blink back tears, "This is stupid!  It's not so bad it should make me cry." she sniffled. 

"Hey," Chichiri said, sitting down beside her and wrapping an arm around her shoulder, "it's not that bad, no da. I know where you are, and I can give you a place to sleep and get dry, no da." 

All of a sudden, as Chichiri touched her, Elwing found that she could actually "feel" the concern and compassion for her which he felt.  This sudden, unexpected appearance of a strange new ability shocked her off the verge of hysteria. 

She turned and smiled at Chichiri. "Thanks!" she said, "I needed that." 

Meanwhile, in the bandit hideout, Iris evaluated her wardrobe choices, and decided that since she wasn't going anywhere, and since she had a hot guy to impress, wearing a nice dress was perfectly acceptable. 

"Hmm… shall I wear the long purple dress or the short one?  Longer is better, I think." 

She shook the dress out and put it aside to avoid getting straw on it, then began taking her things off one article at a time.  As she shook out each garment, she was amazed at the amount of straw which was disgorged. 

Once she had gotten rid of all the straw from her clothes, she began working on her hair, picking the straw out piece by piece until her locks were once again free of tangles, then brushed the straw dust out of it.  Once she was satisfied that she was as presentable as she could be without having a bath, she slipped on the dress and sat down on the bed.  Just then, there was a knock on the door.  'Perfect timing' Iris grinned mentally. 

"I'm coming!" she called.  She ran the brush a couple of more strokes through her hair, then calmly walked over and opened the door. 

"It's been a couple of years since I saw anyone from your world." her young man said, "Are you a Miko?" 

"I don't know, what's a Miko?" she asked.   

"A kinda priestess...a girl who talks to one of the Gods and gets wishes from him." 

"No, I don't think so… Hey," she asked as she realized he hadn't introduced himself yet, "what's your name anyway?" 

"Here they call me Genrou, but most places I'm known as Suzaku no Shichiseishi Tasuki.  Hey!  What the Hell are you doin' askin' questions?  I'm supposed to be the one askin' the questions!" he glared at her, "Okay, I know that in your world, this whole world's just some damn book, and I know that's how people from your world get here..." 

"All I know is the book my friend and I were reading when we got pulled here said something about prophesy." Iris explained. 'I'm sure I should know more than that,' she thought, 'but how can I explain it?  It's like I should remember something really important, but I don't.' 

"Just bloody perfect." Tasuki sighed, "Didn't you say you're lookin' for another girl?" 

"Yes," Iris confirmed, "my friend Elwing." 

"Just DAMN BLOODY perfect!" Tasuki swore, "Two girls, and only me and Chichiri left to keep an eye on them.  Well, I'm not doin' anythin' 'til I've eaten." 

"I am kinda hungry," Iris agreed, "and you seem to have a good cook, from what my nose tells me." She sighed as she inhaled the delicious smells of dinner cooking and her stomach growled.

"Suzaku's balls, not another one!" Tasuki muttered under his breath. "We'll be outa food in no time if she stays long!"

By the time they got to the dining hall, everyone else was already there.  A few grins were thrown their way, but most of the bandits were too wary of their leader's fiery temper to say anything out loud.  Certainly none of them suspected the truth.  Tasuki and Iris sat down and started to eat, and Tasuki was pleasantly surprised that unlike Miaka, she didn't simply inhale her food.  Somehow, though, even while appearing to eat with perfect gentility, she managed to eat almost twice as much as he did in the same amount of time. 

Once dinner was over and everyone was slightly drunk (except for Iris, who didn't really know what sake would do to her, so didn't touch it) Tasuki tapped Iris on the shoulder. 

"Stop loungin' around, dammit, we have to talk to someone, c'mon" He got up and walked to the door, and Iris quickly followed. 

The drink having done its work, some of those who had grinned at the beginning of the meal now giggled. 

Tasuki spun quickly around. "Somethin' fuckin' funny, dammit? I'll give you somethin' to godsdamn  laugh at!  LEKKA SHIN'EN!" 

The tabletop burst into flames, but luckily this wasn't all that uncommon an event, and everyone simply dumped conveniently-placed casks of water on it. 

"All you guys who found the situation so fuckin' amusin' can damn well clean that mess up." Tasuki threw over his shoulder as he walked out the door with Iris right behind him.  As soon as the door closed, the gigglers were attacked by their neighbours, making even more of a mess. 

Tasuki strode down the hall at an angry pace, which Iris struggled to keep up with.  Finally, she had had enough. 

"Hey, slow down, would you!" she said, planting herself, irritated, hands on hips, in the middle of the hall, "What's the hurry?" 

"Oh shit." Tasuki swore, rolling his eyes, "I fuckin' hate women!" he sighed, "C'mon, don't just stand around lookin' like a fool." He started walking again, but this time at a pace Iris could more easily keep up with.  

A few turnings later they reached their destination.  When Iris walked in, she suddenly realized, to her extreme embarrassment, that she was in Tasuki's bedroom.  She blushed a deep crimson and started to back out the door.  

Tasuki grabbed her arm. "Don't be stupid," he growled, "I'm not some kinda pervert.  Just come over here and sit by this tapestry." he said, plunking her in front of said wall-hanging.  He then sat down next to her and bared his right forearm so that his character was visible, then closed his eyes.  Slowly the pattern of the tapestry began to fade and was replaced by what seemed to be a window into the interior of a small cottage. 

"Thanks for helping me out, Chichiri." Elwing said as they walked to the cottage where she was to spend the night.  Her clothes were still wet, and so were her shoes, so she went barefoot rather than wear squelching shoes. Even though the day was warm, Elwing was still damp enough, because of her wet hair, to feel chilly.  The back of her purple peasant blouse was soaked, and sticking to her, and her bundle of wet clothes dampened her front.  As the sun was setting, she knew that what heat she did feel would soon disappear. 

"Is it much further to this place we're heading?" she asked Chichiri, who had kindly offered to carry her pack. 

"Not much further, no da.  I was wondering, have you got any idea what your purpose here is, no da?" 

"I don't really know.  I was reading a strange book with a friend in my world, but we got no further than the first page when this weird red light appeared, and the next thing I knew, I was here, and she was somewhere else.  I know we fell together, though, because we were holding hands at first." Elwing explained. 

"This book, was it called the _Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho_, no da?" Chichiri asked. 

"It was _The Four Gods' Sky and Earth_, yes.  Do you think it's important?" 

Chichiri smiled, "That's how you got here!  I don't know why, but somehow this world is contained within that book, no da." 

"Cool!" Elwing exclaimed, "I'm in a whole 'nother universe inside a book!" 

"It's not just fun and games, though, no da." Chichiri warned. 

"Nothing ever is." Elwing acknowledged. 

"People are only brought through the book for specific purposes; tomorrow we will go to Taiitsukun and see what she can tell us, no da." he told her. 

"Tomorrow is tomorrow and will come when it does.  For now, I just want to be warm and dry and have something to eat." she said, and shivered. 

"I think I can help there, no da." Chichiri grinned, and pointed with his shakujou to a small cottage just ahead, "We've arrived, no da!" 

"Yay!" Elwing cheered, "Time to get warm and dry!" 

When they got in, Chichiri deposited her pack by the door and began building a fire in the fireplace. 

"Is there anywhere can hang these wet clothes close to the fire so they can get dry?" Elwing asked. 

"Up there, no da." Chichiri pointed to some hooks set into the beams. 

"Thanks!" she said, "That's just what I need." She hung her sodden clothing up to dry, then asked, "Is there somewhere I can change out of this wet top?" 

"Just wait until I've got the fire going well, and I'll show you, no da." he replied. 

As soon as the fire was well established, Chichiri lit a lantern and took Elwing to the spare room in the back of the cottage. 

"You can use this room for now, no da." he offered, "I'll call you when dinner's ready, no da." 

"Thanks!" Elwing smiled. 

Leaving the lantern with her, Chichiri headed off to the main room again. As soon as he was out of sight, Elwing stripped her wet blouse off and, after evaluating the situation, decided the pants had to go too. She set them aside, and couldn't resist unpacking her favourite dress to change into. Her hair was partway toward dry, but not dry enough yet, so before she put on the dress she sat on a stool by what she had deemed to be the dressing-table and endeavored once again to brush her hair dry. She was just finishing this and getting ready to go slip the dress on, when two things happened almost at once. First, she sensed a "reaching-out" seemingly opposite to the "pull" the book had exerted on her, and second, Chichiri came into the room. 

"Ex-_CUSE ME_?!" Elwing gasped, outraged, and pulled herself into a ball on the stool.  This was, perhaps, not the smartest of moves, however, for although it did cover her more salient features, it also overbalanced her, and she fell sprawling backward off the stool.  Chichiri blushed and turned quickly around. "Daaa! Pardon me, no da." he apologized, "There's something in this room I need to use.  You might consider getting dressed, although I don't think my friend Tasuki would mind terribly if you didn't, no da." he grinned. 

"Grr, just you wait!" Elwing warned, but she also laughed. "Since you've already seen pretty much all there is to see, you may as well turn around and help me on with this dress." she offered, by way of an apology for her earlier anger. 

Chichiri turned around again and, striving to politely keep his gaze above her collarbones, waited as she stepped into the dress, then, after a brief explanation of the mysterious workings of zippers, zipped up the back as she held her hair out of the way. 

"Thanks," she said, "now what was this about someone named Tasuki?"

"He called, and wants to talk to me, no da." Chichiri explained, "This is the room where I keep the tapestry which is used as a link between us. You may as well stay, he's a Suzaku no Shichiseishi, as am I, and will need to know about you, no da." 

Elwing agreed, and Chichiri motioned for her to sit down in front of one of the tapestries on the wall and held his prayer beads in front of his face, muttering a spell.  The complex pattern of the tapestry faded, and Elwing began to see a well-lit room, rich with silks, instead. 

" 'As the two girls came into view to each other, they both grinned and simultaneously cried 'There you are!' which surprised both the seishi.' " 

Catherine read. "What a strange book!" she said, "It must be Elwing's, since no one else has claimed it." Just then the phone rang. "Hello?" she answered it. 

"Hello, is Elwing there?" Pithya, on the other side, asked, "She's supposed to let me in." 

"Something weird is going on with her." Catherine explained, "Why don't I let you up, and maybe you can tell me if you know anything about what's going on." 


	3. Chapter 02: Revelations

I have returned!  I'm back from the hinterlands of Manitoba, and the next chapter is ready for release.  I'll be putting them out one every week or so I hope, until I get to Chapter 11, by which time hopefully 12 will by typed and edited and ready to go too, we'll have to see.  I appologise for going slow, but I have to take the time to make sure each chapter is properly edited so that it makes sense now that they don't, in fact, have any memory of where they are.

And to Otaku Pitcher: glad to see someone who actually remembers this old story.  I'm certainly going to try to finish it, although it will take some time, since according to the outline Iris and I laid out it is 62 chapters long *sighs*.  But I'm certainly going to try!  Gambatte! And all that

Chapter 2: 

Revelations

Catherine went down and let Pithya in. "So what exactly is so weird that's going on with Elwing?" Pithya asked. 

"Well, she's not here, her bag's not here, both her drawers are open with stuff strewn all over the bed... " 

"And this is strange?" Pithya interrupted. 

"Well, but it's messier than usual, and she's dumped all the pens and stuff out of her bag.  It looks as though she turned the whole thing upside down then filled it with clothes.  And then there's this weird book I found.  It must be hers, since none of our other roommates seem to know where it came from." At this, Catherine opened the door. 

"Let's see the book first." Pithya suggested.

Catherine took her into the living room. "Here, do you recognize it?" she asked, handing Pithya _The Four Gods' Sky and Earth_. Pithya, although not as well versed in Fushigi Yuugi as her two friends Elwing and Iris, certainly knew enough about it to recognize the book for what it was. 

" 'The seishi greeted one another, then the bandit asked the masked monk what he knew of these girls.' " Pithya read. "Certainly I know what this book is," she assured Catherine, "but it'll take awhile to explain...and you might not believe it even then.  It's the only explanation, but I hardly know whether to believe it myself." 

"Well Chichiri, looks like it's been rainin' girls again." Tasuki said sardonically. 

"No, she just fell in the lake, no da." 

"I didn't mean that way, dammit!" 

Chichiri just grinned.  He turned to Elwing. "So, this is the friend you were looking for, no da?" 

"Yes, this is Iris.  Iris, this is Chichiri. And who's that you're with?" she asked oh so innocently. 

"This is Tasuki." she said, giving Elwing a dirty look, "What was that comment about the lake, anyway?" 

"Oh," Elwing's ears turned red and she glanced over at Chichiri, "I, um, landed in a lake, 'nough said, okay?" 

"Hey, at least you didn't land in hay, I was sneezing my head off." 

"Was that land in the hay, or roll in the hay?" Elwing smirked. 

Iris raised her eyebrows innocently. "My, my, what you think of me!" 

Tasuki and Chichiri looked askance at their respective charges, then Tasuki asked, "So now what the Hell are we supposed to do about them?" 

"Well, I'm taking Elwing here to see Taiitsukun tomorrow, but think it would be prudent for you to go to the palace to consult with the spirits of the other seishi, no da.  I will meet you there as soon as I can, no da." 

"That's what I'd already kinda planned to do." Tasuki said. 

Suddenly, Iris's gaze abstracted and she sat up straight and began to speak.  "That which was cold and dead shall be reborn." she said.  Just as suddenly, she snapped out of it and noticed them all staring at her.  "Did I say something?" she asked, bewildered. 

They all just continued to stare at her, gape-mouthed. 

"You said, 'That which was cold and dead shall be reborn'.  Do you have any idea what that means?" Elwing asked her friend. 

Iris looked as confused as the rest of them. "I have no idea, no.  Are you sure that's what you heard me say?"

"That's what you said, no da." Chichiri assured her. 

"That's weird." 

Tasuki was still just sitting there, staring at her. Suddenly he snapped out of it. "Um, girl...Iris...that sounded like somethin' outa... Are you alright?!" he turned to catch her as she fainted. "What's wrong with her, dammit?" he asked Chichiri. 

"I think she'll be all right, no da.  Look, she's waking up, no da." 

Tasuki looked down right into her open eyes. 

"Oh, Hello.  What am I doing on the floor?" 

"You fainted." 

"Mmmmm... It's a comfy floor, and I'm really tired, can I just stay here for a bit?" 

"I think we'll go now, no da." Chichiri said, laughing. 

As the tapestry faded, Elwing and Chichiri heard Tasuki say "I don't fuckin' think so, I'll take you next door and you can sleep on the floor there, if you like floors so much." 

Tasuki picked Iris up and she laid her head wearily on his shoulder.  Just then there was a knock on the door. 

"Hello!  Who is it?  It's Genrou's best friend Kouji, come back from his trip.  Oh, Hello Kouji, it's good you're back.  You're welcome, please come in." The door opened, "Arigatou!" said Kouji as he stepped through... and stared in surprise at the scene before him.  "I'm not interruptin' anythin' am I Genrou?" he grinned. 

Tasuki blushed brightly, too stunned even to drop Iris for his usual 'reunion dance' with Kouji, "She's fuckin' sick." he explained. 

"Oh, is that how it is?" 

"I'm just carryin' her to her bed.  I want you where I can keep half an eye on you at all times," he told her, "so I'm movin' your stuff to this room." He opened the door to the next room. 

"Whatever, I'm just tired." Iris muttered. 

Tasuki laid her carefully down on the bed and was just turning around to get her stuff from the other room when she zoned out again.  This time, however, the character for "see", Miru, appeared on her forehead over the third eye chakra.

"In the Temple of the Peacock, all will be revealed." she intoned, then fainted again. 

Tasuki and Kouji looked at her, their expressions somewhere between aghast and stunned. 

"Does she do that often?" Kouji asked Tasuki 

"Well, shit, considerin' that's the second time in under ten minutes, I'd hafta say yes." Tasuki confirmed.

"AIYAH!" Kouji exclaimed, "How does she ever get anythin' done?" 

"I dunno.  Maybe it only happens when she's tired.  She was here all through dinner and it never happened then." Tasuki mused.

Kouji looked at the character fading on her brow, then to Tasuki's still-bared forearm. "She a seishi then?"

"Shit!  I didn't even think of that!  I don't think so.  More likely she's some kinda Miko." 

Iris moaned and began to wake again. "Oooh, I have such a headache.  Did I faint again?" she asked. 

"Indeed you did.  Why the bloody Hell didn't you tell me you had a character like mine?" Tasuki demanded. 

"That's news to me!" Iris said. 

"It's right on your forehead, how could you not have noticed it?!" 

Iris reached up to her forehead and felt a lingering tingle of energy. "That's never happened before!" she insisted, "Look, I'm as confused by this as you, but can we put off the interrogation until tomorrow?  I'm really tired, 'kay?" 

Tasuki thought about it for a minute. "Alright," he said finally, "we'll finish this tomorrow mornin'.  We'll have lotsa time on the road to talk." He turned around to face her and saw that she was already fast asleep. 

"You must be gettin' borin', Gen-chan." Kouji teased him. 

"I've never seen anyone fall asleep that fuckin' fast." Tasuki said, stunned. "How the Hell can you be talkin' to someone one minute, and fast asleep the next?" 

Kouji grinned. "I wouldn't know. You seem to manage it fairly well, though." 

Iris rolled over in her sleep and both of them shut up quickly, fearing they had woken her up, but she just resettled herself, sprawling across as much of the bed as she could cover. 

"She sleeps just like you do!" Kouji pointed out gleefully. 

"Let's get her fuckin' bag and leave her to it, then." Tasuki suggested. 

"You're gonna have to leave again, aren't you?" Kouji asked him, getting serious. 

"Looks like it.  Damn fuckin' girls droppin' outa the sky with fuckin' missions!" Tasuki complained, "I never get a chance to do anything. Just as I get started, another fuckin' girl drops in!" 

Kouji just laughed at him. "Don't try to claim you don't have fun runnin' around on dangerous missions, saving Konan-koku from danger." 

"Yeah, well, okay, but that's not the fuckin' point dammit!" 

"If you were meant to spend your whole life here, you wouldn't've been born with that character on your arm." Kouji pointed out

"Interestin' thought, but what'd they have done without me?" Tasuki grinned, back to his sunny self. 

After the "meeting", Elwing was deep in thought, trying to figure out what exactly was going on with all these strange places and people which seemed so familiar.

"I can smell dinner, no da." Chichiri pointed out to Elwing, "If we let it cook too long, it might burn, no da."

"Oh, sorry," Elwing blinked and looked at him, "did you say something about dinner? I was a little distracted." 

"So I noticed, no da. Come, let's eat, no da." Chichiri stood and extended his hand to her. 

She reached up and took his hand and he helped her to her feet... and then had to catch her as she lost her balance and tumbled into him.  He noticed, for in her low-cut dress it was perfectly visible, that as she took his hand, the character for "feel", Kanjiru, blazed over her heart chakra. 

"Are you alright, no da?" he asked her. 

"I don't think so." she said shakily, "Physical contact seems to allow me to experience two points of view." 

"Oh, sorry, no da." he immediately let go of her. 

"Thanks.  I don't know how that happened, but boy did it do a number on my equilibrium!" she stepped carefully over to the bed and sat down. 

"I have a character too, no da." Chichiri said. 

"What do you mean 'too'?  I noticed the character on your knee when we were talking through the tapestry, but I don't have anything like that." 

"Yes, you do, no da." Chichiri corrected her, and brought her a hand mirror, "In the centre of your chest, just below the collarbones.  If you didn't have a character before, you certainly have one now, no da." 

"You're right!" she said, surprised, as she looked in the mirror.  She watched it fade away, then stood up. "Well, no need to sit here while dinner burns.  I feel much better now, so let's go eat." 

Elwing picked up the rest of her damp clothes and carried them out with her.  Chichiri ladled out two bowls of stew as Elwing hung her clothes up on the remaining pegs, then they sat down to eat. 

"So what exactly happened there, no da?" Chichiri asked her. 

"It was very strange.  When I took your hand, it was like I was you, but at the same time, I was still myself.  I could see myself from your perspective, and I picked up surface thought; mostly surprise," she admitted, unable to meet his gaze. 

"Has this ever happened to you before, no da?" 

"Never before today," she answered, "but earlier today when you put your arm around my shoulder I felt your concern through your touch.  Then, of course, just now, which was, as I've said, much stronger." 

"Daaa... Interesting, no da." Chichiri mused, "It's obviously linked somehow with the appearance of your character.  Probably it's also got something to do with you arriving here, no da." 

"Hey, I just thought of something!" Elwing exclaimed, "Is it possible that being here is strengthening powers I already possessed back home?  I always was good at 'reading' people's emotions and helping them work out their problems." 

"That could be it, no da.  Doubtless you have a purpose here, and this has something to do with it, no da." 

Elwing sighed. "A purpose.  It sounds so... I don't know... good, but frightening, like I'm a pawn in some game I can't even see." 

"It can be frightening at first, no da.  The other seishi and I all had our characters from a young age, so we had lots of time to adjust, no da." He took off his mask and reached out and touched her arm, closing his eye first to try to reduce the vertigo and concentrating on his own feelings about the purpose leant to his life through being a seishi. 

She had a fleeting thought that he should really take his mask off more often, he was so handsome even with the scar, but her train of thought was interrupted and she groaned as her character blazed to life again, then slumped in her chair as he broke contact. 

"I'm sorry to do that to you," he apologized, replacing his mask, "but I could think of no better way of telling you how I felt than to have you see for yourself, no da. Was it less dizzying without vision, no da?" 

"A little." she admitted.  "It also helped that you were concentrating on conveying a particular piece of information.  It still made me a little nauseous, though." 

"Sorry about that, no da.  Does this mean I can have your stew, no da?" he asked, lightening the tone. 

"I don't think so!" she said, and laughingly pulled the bowl toward her, "I'm the one who got dunked in the pond, remember?  I need sustenance to keep me from getting sick!  So, what is a seishi anyway? You said you and Tasuki were Suzaku no Shichiseishi, but what does that mean?" 

"There are four animal Gods, and each is worshipped by a different country and controls a different direction, no da." Chichiri began, "Suzaku is the Red Peacock of the South, and his powers centre around fire and love, no da. Each animal God is assigned a quadrant of the sky, and the seven constellations in that quadrant are the seven seishi assigned to protect that God's Miko, no da." he continued in this bent for awhile, then switched to his own comrades. "The Suzaku no Shichiseishi are me (Chichiri), Tamahome, Nuriko, Hotohori, Chiriko, Tasuki, and Mitsukake, no da. Our Miko has already come, and in our quest to call Suzaku, all but Tasuki and myself died, no da." 

He looked so sad that Elwing reached out without thinking to touch his arm in comfort.  She was immediately bombarded with feelings of sadness, not only over the deaths of his former comrades, but also the earlier deaths of his fiancée and best friend.  It seemed to her almost like something out of a romance novel or an anime but to be confronted with it in so immediate a manner was an entirely different matter.  She quickly took her hand away, but the damage was already done. 

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she wailed, "I didn't mean to intrude, honest!  I wasn't thinking!  This power is so new to me I forgot!  I only meant to comfort you a little, I didn't mean to pry, honest!" she began to cry almost without realizing it.

Chichiri sighed. "It's okay, I've lived with it for nine years now, and it's not exactly a big secret, no da." 

This reassured her a little, and she wiped the tears away from her eyes. "Still, it was unfair of me to invade your privacy like that.  I feel really bad about it." Elwing apologized with a sniffle, "I need to learn better control over this power.  I don't want to go through the rest of my life unable to touch anyone!" 

"Maybe I can teach you the control you need, no da." Chichiri offered, "It will likely take awhile, though, so until then, try to remember not to touch anyone, no da." 

"Lucky I'm not usually very 'touchy-feely' anyway." Elwing sighed, and dipped her spoon into her bowl and brought it to her mouth, only to realize that it was empty as she got it there. "Oh, I guess since I'm finished eating I ought to go to bed now." she looked down at her bowl, "But first, as repayment for the meal, please allow me to do the dishes." Elwing picked up her empty bowl and Chichiri's and carried them over to the basin, then put a pannikin of water over the fire to boil. 

"It's very kind of you, no da. If you're tired I'll do them, though.  After all, I've lived on my own before, and certainly do know how, no da." 

Chichiri offered in return. 

"Nonsense.  I'm not that tired, really, but you can dry if you want." 

Once the water was hot, he took the steaming pannikin off its hook and carried it over to her, then picked up a towel. 

"Why don't I tell you about the other seishi, no da." 

"Okay!" she smiled 

"Let's start with Tamahome, no da." with a poof Chichiri disguised himself as Tamahome, "He loved only two things in life... money, and Suzaku no Miko, Miaka.  He has the character for 'Ogre' on his forehead, and his special talent as a seishi was an innate skill for martial arts.  He was Suzaku no Miko's main protector, no da.  

"Now, on to Hotohori, no da." another poof and he looked like Hotohori, bucket hat, duck shoes and all, "Hotohori was the Emperor of Konan-koku.  He was a little vain, and he thought he was the most beautiful person anywhere, but he was devoted to his people and was a great Emperor, no da. His character, 'Star' was on the left side of his neck, and his talent was with the blade, no da." 

Poofing again, he was now Nuriko, "Then there's Nuriko, who looked like a girl, but really, he was a young man who was playing the part of an Imperial Lady of the Inner Court, and was in love with Hotohori, no da.   He was very strong, it was his talent as a seishi, but he was also a great friend, and kind to everyone.  His character of 'Willow' was on the left side of his chest, no da." 

He poofed back to himself, "I'm a wanderer, or I was.  These days I have to be able to keep in contact with Tasuki and the Empress Regent, since Hotohori died before his son was born and I serve as one of her advisers; so I keep this cottage up, and usually report in here about once a month if nothing comes up sooner, no da.  My seishi talent is ki blasts and kekkai, and I've also had training in spells and other kinds of ki manipulation under Taiitsukun, the ruler of this world.  You've already seen 'Well' on my right knee, so you know my character... " 

"But not my own." Elwing interrupted shyly, "I can't read your Kanji, so I don't know what it says." 

"It's no surprise, it says 'Feeling', no da." he told her.

"After me, the next seishi to be found was Tasuki.  You've already met him, so you know what he looks like, no da.  His 'Wing' is on his right forearm, and his seishi talent is speed.  He also carries an iron fan, his tessen, which can throw flames with an incantation from him.  He's a bandit, so he swears a lot, but he's really the most emotional of us all, and an honest and trustworthy man, if a bit immature, no da.  

"Following Tasuki is Mitsukake, no da." this time, he did poof again into the form of Mitsukake, "He was a doctor with a painful past, and his talent was healing. He has 'Sadness' on the palm of his left hand, and because of his pain, he was always rather quiet, although he had a wicked sense of humour and a very dry wit, and whenever he did say something, you knew for sure it was worth saying, no da." 

Tama-neko chose this particular moment to wander in, and Elwing grinned and grabbed the dishcloth from Chichiri just long enough to dry her hands, then knelt down and extended one hand lightly out palm down with fingers held loosely.  "Hey, there, pretty one!" she crooned, and clicked her tongue at him.  Tama wavered for a second between her and Chichiri (who still looked like Mitsukake) and she made a strangely melodious mewling sound which closely resembled a litter of young kittens calling for their mother.  It was a sound no ordinary cat could ignore, and Tama was no exception.  He strolled nonchalantly over to her and sniffed her outstretched fingers.  Accepting her, he nuzzled her palm to mark her and she scratched his ears.  She kept herself still as he wound himself around her body, moving only the one arm to stroke him as he passed in front of her.  Finally, she scooped him up into her arms and thence onto her shoulder and turned back to the now finished washing-up.  "Yours, I assume?" she asked. 

"He was Mitsukake's, no da.  After Mitz died, Tama-neko here seemed to adopt me, so I guess he's mine now, no da."

He poofed into the form of Chiriko, "The last of the seishi to be found was Chiriko.  He was a child genius, and had already passed the first Civil Service Exam when he came to us at thirteen, granting him the title of 'Budding Genius', no da. His talent was intellect, and he had the sign of 'Stretching' on his right foot.  He was small for his age, and always felt rather bad about it, but even though he was still young and not yet fully trained so his symbol sometimes disappeared, and with it his power, he was an extremely brave boy, no da." 

Finally he poofed back to himself. "Let me take care of that water, no da." he offered, "You should get to bed, we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow, no da."

Elwing yawned, "You're probably right." she agreed, "This has been a long day, and nothing like I expected it to be.  Good night." she waved over her shoulder as she glided back to the spare room she had been given for the night. 

"Good night, na no da." Chichiri answered. 

" 'The Monk watched the woman disappear around the corner to bed, with sad thoughts of companions dead and gone...' " Pithya read. "If there's any kind of destiny, that's probably Elwing with Chichiri." Pithya explained to Catherine, "The description certainly sounds like her, and Chichiri is her favourite character.  As for the other girl, I'm not sure, but I suspect it's probably Iris.  After all, she introduced Elwing to Fushigi Yuugi, so who else would Elwing call when she found this book?" 

Catherine interrupted her. "I still don't understand how you can think they're inside a book." she complained, "And what is this Fushigi Yuugi you keep mentioning?" 

Pithya thought for a minute. "A picture's worth a thousand words." she said, and went into Elwing's room, "Do you know where she keeps her videotapes?" she called out to Catherine. 

"In her closet." Catherine called back. 

A minute or so later, Pithya came out carrying Elwing's collection of Fushigi Yuugi. "I've only seen the first three episodes, myself, but they told me about some of it, and even just that much is enough to realize what's happened here." she explained to Catherine as she slipped the first tape into the VCR, "This is the best way I can think of to explain it to you." 

And so began Catherine's introduction to the mysterious play of The Universe of the Four Gods.  


	4. Chapter 03: An Explanation

And here I am again, back to you with the next installment of this little adventure.  Sorry it's a couple of days late, but I figured it was better to wait until all of this weekend's craziness on the site was over and done with before I tried posting anything -_-;;

Things are starting to pick up now, setting the stage for events to come, as Chichiri and Elwing head for Taiitsukun, while Tasuki takes Iris to the capitol…

Chapter 03:

 An Explanation

The sun was just rising as Tasuki entered Iris's room to wake her to start their journey to the capital. 

"They look so damn innocent when they're asleep." he muttered, "You'd never guess how cunning they are when they're awake!" As he bent down over the bed to shake her shoulder she turned over, whacking his face with her arm as she did so. "Ow!  What'd you fuckin' do that for?  Shit!  Even in their sleep women can hurt you!"

Iris sat up, startled, "Wha... what happened?" 

"What the Hell do you mean, 'what happened,' you fuckin' hit me in the face!" 

"Oh, I did?  Sorry, I'm a bit of a restless sleeper sometimes.  Now you know, you won't do that again, will you?" 

"Hell no!  You're fuckin' dangerous when you're asleep!" 

"Why are you here anyway?" 

"We have to get goin' to the capitol.  I was comin' to wake you up, that's all." Tasuki turned to leave. 

"Wait!" Iris called after him, "I really am sorry I hit you, I honestly didn't mean to." 

"I'll take it as a warnin'." he told her, "I usually watch what the fuck people are doin' more carefully.  You'd damn well better get ready quick, though.  I'm fuckin' leavin' in an hour, and if you want breakfast before you go, you hafta be ready in half that time."  And with that, he left and closed the door behind him. 

"Arrgh!" Iris exclaimed as he left. "He doesn't have to be so grumpy.  Just because I whacked him in the face... Well, I guess maybe he does." She sighed, "I wish I wasn't so violent when I'm asleep.  When I'm awake it's fun, but I don't even know who I'm hitting when I'm asleep." she sighed again, "Well, I guess it's time to get up now."

Tasuki had gone back to his own room to finish his packing, and could hear most of what was going on in her room, although he couldn't make out what she was saying, so when she once again tranced and fainted, he heard the thud as she hit the floor and came running. 

"Dammit, this isn't the time to be pullin' that shit again!" he told her, even though she obviously couldn't hear him.  He went over to the washbasin and filled a cloth with water, then knelt by her and squeezed it out over her face.  She coughed and spluttered for a minute, but she was awake. 

"I fainted again, didn't I?" she asked him. 

"Yeah." he confirmed, "How often does this usually happen with you?  I mean, you seemed fine all through dinner... " 

"Actually it's never happened before in my life.  Oh sure, I've fainted before, who hasn't?  But never in such close succession, and I've never zoned out like that, saying stuff I don't remember and all that.  Last night was the first time." 

"God, you talk a lot!" Tasuki sighed.

"I do not!" Iris objected, "Well, actually, yes I do.  Everyone tells me that." she admitted. 

"Well, get back to your packin' and I'll see you at breakfast." he told her as he went back to his own room. 

Without further incident, Iris changed into jeans and a t-shirt, washed her face from the basin, and packed all her things back into her bag.  She was brushing her hair when a knock came at the door. 

"Who's there?  It's Kouji come to collect the strange girl for breakfast with Genrou.  Oh, Hello Kouji, please come in." The door opened, "Arigatou!" said Kouji as he entered the room.  "Genrou says you'd better be ready by now." 

Iris stood up and slipped her brush into her bag as she picked it up. "I'm ready to go," she said. They walked out and Iris shut the door behind them. 

"So, you're another one of those weird girls from the other world." 

Iris just nodded, a little intimidated by the thought of having a serious discussion with this strange bandit who seemed to be Tasuki's best friend. 

Kouji smiled. "Don't worry, I'm on your side, I just worry about Genrou. The last time he went on one of these journeys he came back emotionally drained and hardly himself.  He's barely gotten over it and he's back to normal, and now he has to go away again. I just hope you can try to prevent such a thing happening again." 

Iris looked seriously at him. "I'll try. I don't even know myself what's happening here, but he seems such a happy-go-lucky person, and I wouldn't want that to change." 

Kouji grinned at her and placed a hand reassuringly on her shoulder. "Thanks.  I'm sure Gen-chan will be fine." he knocked on the door to the dining hall, "Who's there?  It's Kouji with Iris who's packed and ready to leave.  Oh good, now we can eat, please come in Kouji." Kouji opened the door, "Arigatou!" 

When Chichiri peeked through the door to Elwing's room, she was still asleep, curled up around Tama-neko.

 "Elwing, wake up, no da." he called softly. 

She just groaned. "Mmmm... 'stoowerly." she mumbled. 

"Breakfast is on the table, no da." 

"Doncare.  Warmncozy.  Dowannageup!" 

Chichiri grinned and went over to the bed.  First he picked Tama up and moved him to the pillow so he could purr in Elwing's ear, then he went down to the foot of the bed.  Taking the cover in both hands, he gave it a swift yank and pulled it all the way off the bed. 

This, at least, resulted in movement. Elwing sat bolt upright. "Hey! What did you do that for?" 

"It's time to get up, no da." Chichiri grinned widely, "Are you always like this in the morning?  If so, I'll have many fun mornings, na no da."

"Only about half the time." Elwing admitted ruefully, "Morning just isn't my time of day.  I function better after the sun's gone down." she sighed, "Well, I guess I'm awake now, so I might as well get up.  There's no point in staying in bed if there aren't any warm covers to snuggle under." Throwing a mock-glare at Chichiri, Elwing swung her feet over the side of the bed and rose and stretched, making a squeaky sound which closely resembled a purr. "I'd better go see if my jeans are dry yet," she said as she wandered out into the main area of the cottage. 

"How can anything that lightweight take that long to dry, no da? Surely they must be dry by now, na no da." 

"They're mostly dry, I'll grant you that, but the waistband and pockets are still wet.  Oh well, I can deal with that." She looked out the window, then turned to the west and slowly mapped out a clockwise circle with her chi.  Once this was done, she gathered heat between her hands and held it over the still-wet parts of her jeans.  After a minute or so, she was satisfied that her pants were, if not completely dry, at least _warm _and damp instead of cold and damp, so she dismissed the excess borrowed "heat" energy into the earth and gathered the circle back into herself. 

Chichiri just looked on, stunned. "Have you always been able to do that, no da?" he asked. 

"Not always, no. It took a lot of practice to learn to control energy this way, but I figured it out when I was twelve or so, and I've been working on it since then.  Actually, that's about the most powerful thing I can do, warm things up.  Not really all that impressive." with that, she picked up the rest of her now dry clothes and went back to her room to change.  About five minutes later, Elwing came out of the room, dressed and ready to face the day. "So, did I hear you say something about breakfast?" 

"You'll have to eat quickly, no da. We have a long way to go today, and the sooner we get going, the better, no da." 

Breakfast was a bowl of cold rice, and as soon as she was done, Elwing apologized for leaving Chichiri with the dishes and hurried back to her room to pack her dry clothes back into her bag. 

After bolting down a quick couple of bowls of rice themselves, Tasuki and Iris headed for the stables. 

"I hope you can ride," Tasuki told her, " 'cause I don't have the fuckin' time to teach you right now." 

"Well, kinda.  I'm okay once I'm on the horse, but getting up there has always been a bit of a problem." she looked down, a little sheepish. 

Tasuki sighed. "What's it with fuckin' women anyway?  They never seem to be able to do things by themselves.  Damn bloody annoyin'." he muttered.  He saddled two horses and put his saddlebags onto one, then led them out. 

'Boy I hope I can remember how to ride, now that I've said I can.' Iris thought to herself.

Tasuki handed her the reigns of her horse, and they walked their mounts down the path to avoid attracting the attention of the rest of the bandits.  They knew Genrou was leaving, of course, but still, it was best to avoid a scene.  They might find out too much about Iris, and although Tasuki was loyal to the Emperor and the Empress Regent, and the bandits were loyal to Tasuki, still, they _were_ bandits, and always open to main chance.  Better they didn't know anything which might prove vulnerable later. 

Once they were in the forest, Tasuki stopped. 

"Okay, time to get on the horse." he told Iris.  

Iris just looked at the unfamiliar saddle, the height of the horse, then Tasuki.  "There's no way I can get on that thing without help," she told him bluntly. 

"Alright, fine then, I'll give you a boost up." He interlaced his fingers and made a step for her. "Put your left foot in my hands and hold onto the reigns and the front of the saddle, and pull yourself up when I boost you." he instructed her. "Damn women who can't even get on a fuckin' horse." he muttered to himself.

Iris did as he instructed, and was soon seated comfortably atop her horse.  Tasuki swung himself up onto his own horse, and they were underway.  They hadn't gotten far, however, when Iris tranced. 

"Those there are who would change the truth." she said, then briefly snapped back to reality before fainting. 

"Oh no.  Dammit not this shit again!" Tasuki swore as he saw her trance and pulled his horse alongside hers to catch her before she fell off the horse.  He took her in his arms and was about to dismount when he had a better idea.  Holding the two horses close together, he laid Iris across their withers until she woke up.  He didn't want to have to go through getting her on her horse again. 

When she opened her eyes, Iris evaluated her strange view. "Um... I fainted again, didn't I?" she asked Tasuki. 

"You'd damn well better believe it." Tasuki confirmed, "You said somethin' about people wantin' to change the truth, then keeled over.  It's a good thing I caught you or... Suzaku's flamin' balls!  Woman, I thought I told you to stop doin' that shit!" he exclaimed as she tranced again.  When she fainted, she was still lying across the horses' withers, so he didn't need to catch her, he simply held the horses still.  When she woke, she sat up and got back into her own saddle. 

"I'm really feeling funky.  I've got to stop doing that." Iris moaned. 

"That's what I fuckin' told you!" Tasuki said, "Why didn't you listen to me in the first place?" 

"Hey!" Iris snapped, "It's not like I have any control over it.  I don't even know what triggers it!  Believe me, if I could stop doing this, I would.  You think this is fun?  I'm constantly passing out, and I feel like somebody is hammering on the inside of my head demanding to be let out.  I am NOT a happy person right now, dammit!  Just give me a break, okay?" her sudden flash of anger dissolved into tears, "I just want this to stop!" she sobbed, "I want some control again." 

Tasuki brought his horse back level with hers, and laid a brotherly arm over her shoulder. "We'll figure this out." he assured Iris, "Chichiri's real good at magic and meditation and shit like that, I'm sure he'll be able to teach you how to control your power." 

Iris tranced again. "The strength of the enemy is your own weakness." This time she didn't even snap back to reality for an instant, but went immediately limp. 

"Damn, this doesn't look good." Tasuki said, "She's obviously gettin' weaker.  I'd better get her to the nearest town with a doctor." As soon as she moaned to wakefulness, he told her, "C'mon, time to get off the horse for a minute." He dismounted from his own horse and caught Iris as she almost fell off hers. "Just lie down while I reorganize this." he told her.  Taking her pack off her back, he tied it to her saddle, then tied her reigns to the back of his own saddle.  "Alright now." he said kindly, "You're obviously not well, and we need to go faster, so I'll take you up in front of my saddle.  That way, if you faint again, I won't need to stop to catch you."  

Iris just nodded, dazed and barely understanding. 

Tasuki mounted, then leaned down over the saddle and extended his hands down to her.  Iris stood unsteadily and took his hands and was pulled up onto the horse, where she immediately tranced again.  This time, she didn't even have enough strength to say anything before she fainted against Tasuki's chest.  He gathered her close with one arm and began to gallop off in the direction of the nearest village.  This time, she didn't seem to be waking up. 

Elwing and Chichiri had set off as soon as she was packed, and were now at the edge of the forest within sight of Mt. Taikyoku. 

"Wow!" Elwing gasped, "That's incredible! Is that where this 'Taiitsukun' lives?"

"Right on the top of the mountain, no da." 

"The TOP?!  I hope there's a road or something!" 

Chichiri pretended to think about it for a minute, then smiled, "Well, there are stairs, no da." 

"Oi!  Somehow that doesn't encourage me all that much.  Lemme guess, this is the only way to get there." 

"That's right, no da." Chichiri confirmed, "But don't worry, I'll make sure you make it to the top.   After all, you landed by me, so I must have some responsibility toward you, at least until we find out what's going on, no da." 

Elwing smiled. "Thanks, that's really reassuring." she told him, "It's nice to think there's someone looking out for me, even if it's only for a little while." 

They walked on in silence for a while, lost in their own thoughts.  As they reached the stairs, Chichiri asked her, "So, you said you started learning about chi-manipulation when you were twelve, no da?" 

"If that's what you call it, yes." 

"Who taught you, no da?"

"I taught myself, actually.  Mostly just by doing what seemed to work, along with a little book-learning.  I'm pretty sure there are some glaring gaps in my knowledge, but since I've never found anyone else with more knowledge than mine, the only other way I've had of getting teaching is by reading books."

"You've done pretty well with almost no direction.  That should make it easier for me to teach you to control your power, no da." 

They climbed the stairs in silence for another little while until Chichiri asked her, "So, tell me about this friend of yours, Iris, who landed with Tasuki, no da." 

Elwing smiled pensively. "She's a little younger than me, and full of energy.  She likes to talk a lot, but she can keep secrets well.  She's a really good friend, always trying to cheer me up.  She and I are coven sisters." 

"Coven sisters, no da?" 

"We're witches, er... Wiccans, that is."

Chichiri gave her a strange, confused look. 

"It's the old religion of our ancestry, a religion of nature, and magick is a part of it," she explained. "Actually, you can do magick without being Wiccan, but it does help if you are."

"But why would it make a difference, no da?" Chichiri asked, confused. 

"It helps because it gives more of a focus for the magick and sets out some rules and guidelines to follow." With her explanation done, Elwing clammed up again, and seemed to concentrate solely on climbing one stair after another. 

As they passed the halfway point, Chichiri turned to her. "Why so silent all of a sudden, no da?" he asked. 

Elwing jumped slightly and tripped as he suddenly spoke.  Having no other options, and not wanting her to fall down the stairs, he caught her and quickly lowered her to a seat on the nearest step. 

"Sorry for startling you, na no da." he apologized. 

"That's okay." Elwing forgave him as she sat with palms flat on the steps and eyes closed, trying to once again centre herself in her own body, "It's easy to do.  I've been jumpy nearly all my life." 

"I'll try to remember, no da.  The question still stands though, no da." 

"Why am I so quiet suddenly?" 

Chichiri smiled and nodded. 

Elwing sighed. "To explain that properly, you'd have to hear most of my early life history, and I'm not really that eager to tell it," she explained, "Suffice it to say, it takes me a little while before I'm very comfortable around any man." 

"Alright," Chichiri said solemnly, "I'll accept that.  I'm sure you'll explain it to me when you're ready, no da." 

"Thanks." she said gratefully. 

They hadn't gotten much further when Taiitsukun popped up right in front of them. Chichiri was used to this, of course, but Elwing was not, and she jumped again, and slipped down about two steps. Chichiri caught her before she could fall, but that didn't really help her situation much, as she was still slightly nauseous from the last time he had caught her. She groaned and closed her eyes, and he quickly sat her down and let go of her. 

"I see that you, at least, have arrived, Elwing." Taiitsukun said, "Why isn't Iris with you?" she asked accusingly. 

"She landed in a different place than I did." Elwing explained, "Apparently she's with someone called Tasuki, and he's taking her to the capital." 

Taiitsukun gave Chichiri a stern look. "The four of you need to be together when they summon the spirits of the other seishi, so I'll have to make this quick." she sighed, "Hop onto this carpet and I'll take you the rest of the way up." 

Elwing and Chichiri got on the carpet, and they all flew up to Taiitsukun's palace, Elwing marveling at the view and trying to ignore the drop...it was, after all, a very _small_ carpet.

"Now, you'd better pay attention." Taiitsukun said sternly once they had reached her palace and were seated before her, "You and Iris are here to create a new prophesy for Konan-koku.  In order to do this, you will have to become integrated with this universe.  Only when you are fully grounded here will you be able to recite the prophesy.  There are many connections you will have to make with specific places, and all of these must be done to fulfill your quest.  That is all I will tell you until you are with Iris.  You must meet her at the shrine of Suzaku in the palace.  Only then will you know what must be done." 

"Do you mean a prophesy like the _Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho_, no da?" Chichiri asked politely.  Taiitsukun nodded, and Chichiri reached over to tap Elwing on the shoulder, since she was lost in thought, but pulled back at the last second, snapping his fingers to catch her attention instead. 

"Good." Taiitsukun said, "You already know not to do that. I wouldn't suggest you touch Iris either.  They're both very volatile right now, and use of their powers is extremely draining.  At present, only seishi touch can awaken their powers, and they can't really control what they do.  It will be your job, Chichiri, to teach them to tap into their powers and gain control over them.  I suggest you do this as soon as possible.  Tasuki is impossibly dense, and he hasn't figured out yet what's triggering Iris's bouts of prophesy, and she's becoming very weak.  If he doesn't clue in soon, she may die, and all of this will be for nothing before it even begins." 

"What?!" Elwing exclaimed, shocked and very worried for her friend, "Oh Gods, how can this be happening?" She reached out with her mind to the aura she knew to be Iris's, and as soon as she had drawn a quick protective circle, she pulled a ball of glowing blue energy between her hands, then sent it streaming to the south.  As soon as it reached the edge of her protective circle it became invisible, but continued to stream toward Iris, who was in dire need of it.  Elwing maintained this as long as she could, stopping only when she could no longer control the direction of flow.  Through all this, she hadn't noticed Chichiri yelling at her to stop, she had been entirely too absorbed in what she was doing. 

"What did you think you were doing, no da?" he demanded of her. 

"I was helping Iris." Elwing said simply. 

"Do you have any idea how dangerous that is, no da?" Chichiri asked her, calming down slightly.

"I'm fine." she insisted, and tried to stand up, only to have her legs buckle under her, as she was much weaker than she thought.  She reabsorbed the circle, and the small amount of energy released by that helped a bit, but she was still very weak. 

"Nyan-nyan," Taiitsukun called.  

Suddenly Elwing was surrounded by teal-haired little girls shouting "We fix!  We fix!" They tackled her to the ground and began "healing" her. 

"Chichiri, _help_!" she called from amidst the mob of Nyan-nyans. 

"You're on your own, no da," he grinned. 

"Grr... I'm gonna get you back for this somehow," Elwing warned him, "just you wait!"  

And so it goes.  Will Tasuki figure out what's going on in time?  Will they all ever make it to the capitol in one piece?  Will the author e4ver stop making stupid references to antiquated TV shows?  Join us again next week, same Suzaku time, same Suzaku channel

**whaps self over head with empty CD reel and heads off to work**


	5. Chapter 04: Revival

Well, it seems as though Tuesday is my updating day!  In any case, I spent a weekend as Subaru (wanted to do a Nuriko costume but couldn't decide on one, so I went with Subaru instead since I do have the chest for her) and had great fun at a local Con in Vancouver.  Yay Suba-chan!  Cool Costume and all!  Even met a Miaka there too!  Other than that, this chapter is exactly what it sounds like it is…and more!

Enjoy!

Chapter 04:

Revival

"This isn't sounding good." Pithya stated. 

"What's happening now?" Catherine asked as she fast-forwarded through the opening of yet another episode of Fushigi Yuugi. 

"Iris keeps passing out, and now she's not waking up. Tasuki still hasn't clued in that it's because he's touching her." Pithya giggled a little to herself, "When Iris finds out what's causing her to pass out she's going to be ticked off.  She thinks he is, without question, the cutest of the seishi." 

"Well, you keep reading, and I'll keep watching." Catherine suggested as she hit PLAY again. 

" 'The Suzaku seishi Tasuki galloped on toward the village.  Suddenly, a thought which had been in the back of his mind made itself known to him...' " 

Tasuki reigned in violently, almost causing his horse to rear. "Shit!" he swore, "Why the fuckin' Hell didn't I realize that sooner?  It's me!  Every time I fuckin' touch her she does the spooky routine, then passes out!" He quickly got down off the horse and laid her on the ground, then took two steps backward and sat watching her. She seemed very weak, and she just lay exactly as he had placed her, breathing shallowly.  It was almost as though she was in a coma.  Tasuki watched her intently, desperately counting the seconds between each faint breath and hoping for some change. "Fuck it all, I'm such an IDIOT!" he berated himself, "She was dropped near me, obviously I'm supposed to protect her, and what do I do? Stupidly endanger her life 'cause I can't clue in." 

Just then, Tasuki felt a strange tingling sensation like before a thunderstorm.  He looked up in the sky, but there wasn't a cloud for miles.  When he looked back at Iris, she was faintly glowing with a blue light, and her character had blazed to life again.  The glow seemed to be drawn inside her, and she slowly began to wake up.  Finally she sat up and looked around her. 

"Where are we?" she asked, confused 

"About halfway to the capitol." Tasuki answered, "I figured out what was causin' you to pass out: touch. Every time I touched you, you'd do whatever it is that happens when you use your power." 

"Touch?" Iris closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "Okay, this is going to be difficult, but I think I can do it." 

"Good, 'cause now it's even more important that we get to the capitol and talk to the other seishi.  There's gotta be some way around this.  How the Hell am I supposed to protect you if I can't even fuckin' touch you?  Come to think of it, how are you supposed to get along without touchin' anyone ever?  Chichiri had damn well better know some way to fix this!" 

"Um, I hate to bring this up, but how am I going to get on my horse if you can't boost me?" 

Tasuki groaned. "Well fuck me, how could I have forgotten about that? Well, I guess either we'll have to walk until we can find somethin' you can climb on, or I'll have to fuckin' teach you how to mount your horse without help." 

"I'm willing to try anything once, but if we're in that much of a hurry, I don't know what will be faster." 

"Why don't you just try to mount by yourself, and if that doesn't work, we'll look for a tree stump or something." 

"That sounds like a good idea." Iris agreed and stood up. 

Tasuki untied her pack from the saddle, then lengthened the left stirrup. "You do know how to adjust the stirrup once you're up there, don't you?" he asked. 

Iris nodded, so he backed up and held the reigns while she approached the horse. 

"Okay, now take the left stirrup and turn it around… no, away from the horse… that's it! Now, put your left hand in front of the saddle and your left foot in the stirrup, then put your right hand on the saddle." 

"Um, okay, I'm loosing my balance here, what do I do now?"

"Push off with your right foot and pull yourself up, then swing your leg over the saddle.  No problem!" 

Iris took a deep breath, counted to three and tried… and slid nicely right into the saddle. 

"See! I told you it was easy!" Tasuki congratulated her. 

"Only because I have a good teacher." Iris smiled. 

Tasuki handed her the reigns, being careful not to touch her, then remounted his own horse.  Because Tasuki had been madly galloping, and the horses were a little worn out, they kept to an easy trot for a while.

"So, what the Hell are you anyway?" Tasuki asked her, "You have powers and a fuckin' character like a seishi, but your character isn't one for any of the seishi.  You say you're not a Miko but dammit you have to be! I just don't fuckin' get it!" 

Iris shook her head. "I don't get it either." she admitted. "And this new power!  Well, I've always been good at predicting what might happen, although I have no idea if these really are predictions, and, of course, as a witch I'm pretty good with energy spells… " 

"A witch?  Do you mean, like, with spells and shit?" 

"That's what I just said!  Weren't you listening?  I'm a witch.  That's why I go by the name Iris.  It's too dangerous for witches to go around telling everyone their birth names." 

"So, what's your real name then?" Tasuki asked, confused. 

"I might tell you, someday, but not today." Iris said coyly. 

Tasuki glanced at the position of the sun. "We should get a move on.  If we hurry, we can make it to the palace by nightfall." He kicked his horse into a canter and conversation ceased. 

"Thank you, I feel much better now." Elwing said to the overly helpful Nyan-nyans. 

"That was a very dangerous thing to do." Taiitsukun admonished her, "You were already weakened from the use of your power, and for you to use so much chi in your weakened state might have destroyed you if you lost control of it." 

"I couldn't just leave Iris out there possibly dying!  She's my friend, and the only person from home I have in this weird world!" 

"Well, now that Elwing has recovered, you'd better be on your way.  Tasuki and Iris will soon be at the palace, and you have to get there before them."

"I guess that means I'll have to use my kasa, no da." Chichiri pointed out.

"Your what?" 

"My kasa, no da. It has a spell on it which lets it act as a portal, no da." 

"Um, okay, if you say so." Elwing said doubtfully.

"Here, I'll prove it to you, no da." Chichiri offered.  He held the kasa above her head and lowered it over her, and she disappeared into it. 

"Chichiri," Taiitsukun said as he was about to follow Elwing into the kasa, "you do remember the last line of the _Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho_ don't you?" 

"Yes, and I thought it might have something to do with this, no da." 

"It does. Go now." she commanded. 

He nodded and disappeared into the kasa. 

When Elwing came to she was lying on the floor of one of the bedrooms in the royal wing of the palace, the kasa upturned beside her. "That was decidedly weird!" she said, shaking her head to clear the ringing out of her ears. 

As she was doing this, Chichiri rose out of the kasa. "Da! We're here, no da.  Now we just have to wait for Tasuki to show up, no da." 

"Shouldn't we tell someone we're here?" Elwing asked doubtfully. 

"That might be a good idea, no da." Chichiri agreed, "We should at least announce our presence to the Empress Regent.  Quietly, though, I don't want too many people knowing about you yet, no da." 

In silence, Elwing and Chichiri walked along the passageways of the royal wing, the dim sunlight ruddying the armor of the soldiers standing guard at the door to the Empress Regent's personal suite.  The soldiers bowed low before Chichiri, then he whispered in the nearest soldier's ear.  The soldier obediently knocked on the door. 

"Majesty, Suzaku no Shichiseishi Chichiri is here with a guest to see you." He announced. 

"Send him in," she commanded.  The door was opened and Chichiri strode in, followed a bit shyly by Elwing, who had suddenly realized she was meeting the bona fide ruler of a country, even if she was _only_ the regent. 

"Empress, I wouldn't drop in unannounced like this… "

Houki laughed, "Yes, you would Chichiri, I know you at least that well by now." 

"Well, that's true, na no da.  In this case, though, I might be staying for a while, no da." Chichiri explained. 

"So, who is this 'guest' you bring to see me?" Houki asked. 

Chichiri stepped aside and motioned Elwing forward. "Empress, may I present to you Elwing, who yesterday fell out of the sky into the lake near my cottage.  She is apparently from the other world, no da." 

Elwing curtsied, an action which would, admittedly, have looked better in a skirt.  Even so, she silently blessed her grandmother who had insisted she learn how.  "My Lady." Elwing said softly, not knowing how to properly address royalty, so picking the first convenient honourific which came to her, "I'm so very pleased to meet you." 

"You are from the other world?" Houki asked. 

"Yes, my Lady." 

"How did you come to be here?" 

"I was reading a book called _The Four Gods' Sky and Earth_ with my friend, and we fell through, my Lady." Elwing explained. 

"There are two?" Houki asked Chichiri, surprised. 

"Indeed, we expect her with Tasuki soon, no da." Chichiri explained, "We must consult with the spirits of the other seishi, no da. Will it be possible for you to have the temple prepared, no da?" 

"Of course." She affirmed, and walked over and opened the door and spoke to one of the guards, who immediately saluted and went off to prepare the shrine of Suzaku for the ceremony to contact the spirits of the Shichiseishi. 

"How have you and his little highness been, no da?" Chichiri asked, "I hope they're not swamping you with paperwork, no da." 

"No, I've been alright." Houki sighed, "I really miss my husband, though. He would have handled all this so much better that I do." 

Chichiri nodded sadly. "We all miss Hotohori, no da."

"Boushin is well, although he's still not talking.  I worry sometimes..." 

"He's only two, give him time. Sometimes children simply don't want to talk, no da." Chichiri reassured her.

"Excuse me, my Lady," Elwing interrupted, "but if it might help put your mind at rest, I was one of those silent children myself.  I didn't speak until I was almost three years old, but within the first day I was talking in sentences.   Your son may just not want to talk, and as long as he's getting what he wants in other ways, he probably sees no reason to speak to get it." 

One of the inner doors opened, and the object of their discussions wandered out rubbing his eyes.  When he noticed Chichiri he grinned and ran over to him, arms upraised in a silent plea to be picked up. 

"Da!" Chichiri exclaimed, "It's my favourite little Emperor, no da!" He lifted Boushin over his head, then settled him in the crook of his arm, "I'd like you to meet someone, no da." Chichiri told him and turned so the Boushin could see Elwing, "This is my new friend Elwing, no da." Elwing smiled as he peeked through his fingers at her.  She bent until she was at his level, then peeked through her own fingers back at him.  This made him giggle, and he held out his arms that she might hold him. 

Elwing glanced at Houki, who nodded, so she reached out, being careful not to touch Chichiri, and took the little Emperor of Konan in her arms. 

He giggled. 'I like you!' she heard in her head. 

Elwing was so startled that she almost sat down. 'You little sneak!' she smiled. 

'You can hear me?' he seemed surprised, 'I didn't think there was anyone else who can talk this way. Don't tell!' he pleaded. 

She smiled kindly. 'I won't.' she thought back. 

A knock came at the door. "Majesty, you wished to be informed when Suzaku no Shichiseishi Tasuki arrived.  Also, preparations for the ceremony have been completed at the temple." 

"Good.  Tell Tasuki to meet us there, no da." Chichiri instructed the guard, "We have to go to the temple now," He told Boushin, "do you want to come with us, no da?" 

Boushin nodded and gripped tight to Elwing. 

"It seems he's chosen you as his official transport tonight." Houki smiled. 

As they walked to the temple, Elwing marveled at the mazelike complexity of the hallways and wondered how she would ever find her way if she was alone in them. 

In front of the Temple, she caught sight of Iris and waved at her. 

"That's my friend, Iris," she explained to Boushin, who nodded in that knowing, grave manner that all two-year-olds seem to have at times. 

"What the Hell are you two doing here?" Tasuki asked Chichiri. 

"Someone had to warn the palace of your arrival, no da." Chichiri teased him, "Actually, Taiitsukun sent us, no da." 

"It would be the old bag, wouldn't it," Tasuki muttered to himself. 

"Are you feeling better?" Elwing asked Iris. 

"How did you know I was ill?" Iris asked. 

"Taiitsukun told me." 

"Well, yes, I'm much better, thanks."

"Empress, may I present Iris from the other world." Tasuki announced. 

Iris curtsied, as Elwing had. "Pleased to be here, my Lady." she said. 

"This is your friend?" Houki asked Elwing. 

"Yes, my Lady."

"Since the temple is set up, we should probably get started, no da." Chichiri suggested. 

"Might as well." Tasuki agreed. 

They all entered the temple and the guard closed the doors behind them. 

"You remember how to do this, no da?" Chichiri asked Tasuki. 

"Of course I do, dammit!" Tasuki snapped. 

Chichiri and Tasuki took their places on the dais, then Houki led Iris and Elwing to stand before the brazier. Elwing put Boushin down to stand on his own and the two seishi began to concentrate their chi. 

"We humbly request of you, great Suzaku, that the spirits of the Suzaku no Shichiseishi Tamahome, Nuriko, Hotohori, Chiriko, and Mitsukake be sent to us." Houki incanted, "We have need of their council, great Suzaku, and wish that their spirits might come down from the sky to speak with us." 

As she finished the incantation, glowing spots appeared above the places of the other seishi.  All of a sudden, both Elwing's and Iris's characters began to shine brightly. The glowing spots grew, gathering in sparks of light until they resolved into the forms of the five deceased seishi.  This was all that had happened any other time they called the seishi, so the next occurrence shocked Houki and the two living seishi.  Instead of staying as insubstantial bodies of light, the forms of the seishi began to solidify, drawing in matter and becoming less and less transparent and more and more substantial and massy. Suddenly, in unison, all five of the seishi who had died during the struggle between Suzaku and Seiryuu drew breath, and Elwing and Iris both passed out in dead faints on the floor. 

The newly revived seishi looked around in confusion. 

"How can this be?" Houki whispered, stunned. Half in dream she walked over to Hotohori. "Heika, you live again?" she asked and reached out to touch his face. 

"Apparently I do." he said, a little stunned himself. 

"Do those two young women need my help?" Mitsukake asked, indicating Elwing and Iris. 

Tasuki and Chichiri snapped out of their rather stunned state and rushed over to stand between Mitsukake and their unconscious charges. 

"Don't you dare!" Tasuki menaced. 

"Don't touch them, or use your power on them, no da!" Chichiri exclaimed, "If you want to help, call some guards to carry them to beds where they can sleep until they recover their spent chi, no da." he suggested. 

Mitsukake nodded and left to get the guards, and Chichiri and Tasuki turned to encounter an interesting confrontation; Nuriko was being introduced to Houki. 

"B.. but how?" he was spluttering. 

On all the previous instances of calling the seishi, Houki had been veiled and had not looked at the seishi, not wanting to rip open the grief in her wounded heart, and subsequently Nuriko had never really seen her. 

"You look just like Kourin would have." he said sadly, "How did I never meet you at the palace?" 

"She arrived after you set off to get the Shinzaho of Gembu." Hotohori explained. 

"She really does look an awful lot like you, Nuriko." said an unfamiliar voice. 

Everyone turned to locate the source of this strange voice and for the first time since the seishi were revived they really noticed Chiriko. The smallest seishi no longer looked like a child. In fact, he seemed to be a young man of sixteen, although he still wasn't exceptionally tall, he was now at least Nuriko's height. 

"Apparently we have come back as the age we would have been had we never died." he explained when he saw their confused looks. 

Mitsukake arrived then with a couple of fairly stunned-looking guards to carry Elwing and Iris to rooms where they could sleep more comfortably. 

"What the Hell do you think you're doing?!" Tasuki objected as one of the conscientious guards moved to pick Iris up, "Didn't I say not to fuckin' touch her?! Touch makes her sick, dammit!" 

Chichiri cleared his throat. "Eto… actually, it's only seishi touch that's the problem, no da." He explained to his irate companion, "The guards can carry her with no danger to her health, it's something to do with the innate powers of a seishi, na no da." 

"Great.  Just bloody wonderful.  This still doesn't make it any fuckin' easier for us to protect her." 

"And Elwing as well, no da.  Both of them are sickened by the merest touch of a seishi.  My next task is to teach them control, so hopefully that problem won't last long, no da." 

"What exactly is going on here?" Tamahome asked. 

"I'm not entirely sure, no da." Chichiri admitted, "Maybe we should follow the guards though, I want to be able to keep an eye on Elwing.  She was already weakened once today, and although the Nyan-nyans healed her, I would rather err on the side of caution, no da." 

"Iris too." Tasuki added, "Until that weird light this afternoon she was in about the same state she is now.  It would be a bad example of a man if I just let her lie there unattended!" 

Everyone gave Tasuki funny looks. 

"Well, she did land in my hay pile, I have some responsibility to the girl, okay?!" 

They just shrugged and Tasuki picked up Iris's backpack from where it was resting against the door as they followed the guards out of the temple.  The last to leave was Houki, who had had to locate Boushin.  Being rather startled by the ceremony, he had hidden behind the statue of Suzaku when the seishi started to solidify. 

"Hotohori," Chichiri stopped the Emperor with a hand on his arm, "there's someone you really should meet, no da." he indicated Houki who was carrying Boushin. 

As they caught up, Houki smiled. "Boushin, my little one, I'd like you to meet your father.  He had to go away, as I told you, but he's back now." 

Boushin held his arms out to his father, and Hotohori took the child in his arms. 

"I'm pleased to meet you." He said, "Have you been a good boy?" 

Boushin nodded and grinned mischievously. 

"You'll have to meet all the other seishi.  I'm sure they'll like you very much." Hotohori assured his son.  With what, on any other man, might be considered a silly grin, he caught up with the rest of the seishi. 

"Everyone, you've met Houki now, but there's one other member of my family I'd like you to meet. This is my son, Boushin." Hotohori announced. 

"Hello, your Highness." Chiriko nodded, and Boushin nodded gravely back at him. 

Tamahome smiled a little sadly. "You look like a good little kid." He said to Boushin and patted the child on the head. 

"Hi there, little Highness." Nuriko said.

 Boushin found Nuriko a little confusing. He kept looking back at his mother, then at Nuriko, then Houki again. 

"No, I'm not your mom," Nuriko explained, "I just look a whole lot like her." he gave Hotohori a significant glance, "Which makes me wonder about things a bit.  Good thing for you I've gone straight.  Or maybe too bad?" he asked coyly with cocked eyebrow and giggled.  Hotohori got a scared look on his face. "Don't worry, I'm just teasing." Nuriko reassured him and nodded politely to Houki. 

Mitsukake came over for his chance to greet the little Prince.  He laid his big hand gravely on Boushin's little shoulder. "I'm glad to meet you, Boushin," he said.  Boushin grinned at him and he couldn't help smiling back a little.  Two-year-olds tend to have that effect on people sometimes.  What actually made Mitsukake grin, though, was when a little furry head poked out from Chichiri's kesa. 

"I took good care of him for you, no da." Chichiri said with an answering grin. 

He held out his arm and Tama scurried over to Mitsukake to take up his accustomed perch on his broad shoulder. 

Hotohori took Boushin back to Houki, since he had fallen asleep in the young Emperor's arms. "You should put him to bed.  I have a feeling that once my advisors learn that I've come back to life they'll be scrambling to figure out what to do given the circumstances." 

"I have a feeling you're right.  I'll try to delay their finding out if I can, at least until these miraculous girls wake up." Houki said with a faint smile, "Probably the best way for me to do that is to be asleep." 

"Goodnight then." Hotohori leaned down and gently kissed her forehead, "I'll see you two in the morning."  He watched with a strange look on his face as his wife walked away, his son cradled in her arms, then caught up to the others. 

Once Elwing and Iris were interred into beds in adjoining rooms, all the seishi gathered to discuss what should be done next. 

"How was this possible?" Nuriko asked, voicing the question they all needed answered. 

"Frankly, I have no idea, no da." Chichiri admitted, "By all I know it shouldn't have been possible at all, no da." 

"Who are these girls?" Hotohori asked the other question they had all wondered about. 

"That I have more of an answer for, no da.  Do you remember the last line of the _Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho_, no da?" 

" 'And then shall come Suzaku no Mi and Suzaku no Mune, who will show the way to brilliant new future'?" Hotohori asked, quoting. 

"That's the line, no da.  It seems likely that these two girls are those two, at least, that's what Taiitsukun implied, no da." 

"Suzaku no Mi and Suzaku no Mune… We know so little about them." Chiriko mused, "Could these two young women really be those mysterious figures from the Crimson Legend? And yet, what else would explain our coming back to life?"  

They live again!  And in the upcoming chapters we'll find out more about these mysterious prophetrixes (a point of language:  prophetrix is the feminine of prophet, or at least I'm saying it is, since prophetess just sounds silly)  Next chapter out next Tuesday, see you all then, and thanks for reading!


	6. Chapter 05: Lessons

And here's Chapter 5 for everyone to enjoy!  Things are beginning to move now, and some things will be explained soon…Yay!  Answers to questions come at the end of the chapter.

Enjoy!

Chapter 05:

Lessons

As the seishi discussed strategy late into the night, Elwing and Iris began to wake.  The first to groan her way back to wakefulness was Elwing.  As she sat up rubbing her head, everyone rushed over to her bedside. 

"How do you feel, no da?" Chichiri asked her. 

"Like I got in the way of a stampede of wild horses." Elwing admitted, "What happened?  I seem to remember there was a ceremony to call the seishi, and all this red light, then I passed out."

"Well, we called the seishi all right, look around you, no da!" 

Elwing looked around. "I see. They look very substantial for spirits!" 

Nuriko laughed. "That's because we're not spirits anymore.  You and your friend brought us back to life!"

"They all look just like you showed me," Elwing said to Chichiri, "except Chiriko. Why is that?" she asked. 

"We came back at the ages we should have been." Chiriko explained once again.  "For most of the others the change is hardly noticeable, but I went from thirteen to sixteen, so there's a more substantial change in my appearance."

"Where's Iris?" Elwing asked, suddenly aware of her friend's absence. 

"You both passed out, and she hasn't woken up yet, no da." Chichiri admitted, "She's in the bed in the next room, through that door, no da." 

Elwing stood up slowly, and once she was sure she wasn't going to pass out again, went into the next room where Tasuki was still sitting, watching and waiting for Iris to wake up.  She seemed to simply gaze at her friend for a moment, and Chichiri was aware of her chi reaching out to touch Iris, then Elwing nodded to herself. "I can handle this," she said. 

"No, I won't allow it, no da." Chichiri stood between her and the bed, "You've only just regained enough of you chi to wake up, if you give it to Iris, you'll pass out again, no da."

"But… But… " Elwing searched for some way to convince him she would be fine, "The last time, the trouble was that I had to direct the energy over a long distance.  This time there won't be that problem."

"Well, that is true, no da."

She sensed him wavering.  "And I promise I'll only give up a little of my own energy, I'll borrow the rest from the ambient energy in the room."

"You promise, no da?"

"I promise." Elwing assured him. 

"All right then, I'll let you, no da." Chichiri moved aside to let her approach the bed. 

Elwing kneeled at the bedside and drew a protective circle. 

"Why does she do that?" Chiriko whispered to Chichiri. 

"I have no idea, no da.  It's not a habit I've ever seen before, no da." Chichiri shrugged. 

Once the circle was in place, Elwing rubbed her hands briskly together, then slowly drew them apart, a glowing ball of milky, shimmering blue energy suspended between them.  She divided this energy in two, then held her palms over Iris's heart and sent it into her body.  Only that much though, she knew she couldn't handle any more.  Then she broke the circle and stood up shakily. "That ought to help a bit," she said, "at least she should wake up soon. She didn't have as much energy as me to start off with, since she was sicker before the ceremony."

"You should sit down." Mitsukake told her, "Using energy to heal like that is exhausting.  I should know."

Elwing took the healer's advice and leaned back against Iris's bed.  "So, have you figured out how this happened and what we have to do with it?" she asked. 

"Well, at the end of the prophesy of this country, the _Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho_, there is a line which tells of the two prophetrixes who will come to write a new prophesy.  They are called Suzaku no Mi and Suzaku no Mune, the eye and the heart of Suzaku, but that's all that is known about them." Chiriko explained, "We've all but decided that you two must be them."

At this point, Iris started to wake up. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief as she sat up, head in hands. "Ooooh my head hurts.  Did you get the number of the firetruck that hit me?" she asked Elwing. 

"Apparently you summoned more than just a firetruck this time, Imouto-chan.  This time, between the two of us, we somehow brought the seishi back to life!" 

Iris peeked out from between her fingers. "How in the name of all that's sacred did we manage that?" she asked. 

Elwing just threw up her hands in resignation and shook her head. "Search me!"

Iris looked over at Tasuki. "If I can't be touched, how did I get here?  I don't remember anything after the ceremony started."

"A palace guard carried you." Tasuki explained, "That damned touching thing turns out to only apply to seishi touch, and since I'm a seishi, I can't touch you." 

Iris growled something under her breath which sounded like "Just bloody perfect!" and rolled her eyes.

"With what's left of the night, you two should sleep, and I'll start training you to use your powers in the morning, no da." Chichiri suggested, "That should help solve that problem, no da."

They agreed, and Elwing trundled back to her own bed and sat down. "Goodnight now!" she called to the seishi as they left. 

"Goodnight!" Iris echoed. 

"Sleep well." was the response. 

"I'll let you sleep in this time, no da." Chichiri told Elwing, "You've earned it, no da."

The grin on Elwing's face could have lit up an entire room.  She mimed extreme gratitude, then waved as Tasuki, the last to leave, closed the door. 

As soon as the two of them were sure the seishi were out of earshot they got out of bed for a short whispered conference of their own. 

"Do you believe this?  I mean, we actually brought the seishi back to life!  It's too incredible!" Iris exalted. 

Elwing just shook her head in amazement. "It's strange though, I keep having the sense I should know this story already.  Have you been getting any kind of déja-vu?"

"Yeah, that is weird.  I've also been having the sense that all these people and places are familiar somehow.  Like I've maybe seen them before.  The story's almost like something out of a fantasy novel or anime.  Hey, if people can be brought back from the dead, anything's possible!" Iris mused, then yawned.

"We'd better get back to bed." Elwing suggested, "I know you, and you might just fall asleep on the floor, considering how little energy we have, and I know I don't have the strength to carry you back to your bed."

The next day, Elwing and Iris slept almost until noon, even Elwing was blissfully unaware as servants came to deliver breakfast.  When Chichiri peeked in the door to bring them lunch, Iris was eating her breakfast and Elwing seemed to be still asleep. 

"Come in, come in." Iris invited Chichiri, "She's not really asleep, I saw her roll over just a minute ago, she's just trying to go back to sleep."

"Elwing, it's lunchtime, no da." Chichiri said in a sing-song voice. 

Elwing sat up slowly. "I guess maybe I ought to get up then, I am a little hungry."

"Mitsukake said you both need to eat to regain your strength, no da.  Especially you, since you gave some of your energy up after you had just recovered, no da."

"Never argue with the doctor." Elwing agreed, and pulled her breakfast tray over to her. 

"Once we've eaten, I assume you'll start our training?" Iris asked. 

"I thought we would spend an hour on training and then I would show you around the palace, no da.  With this kind of training, it's important not to spend hours at a time doing it, especially when you're still weak, no da."

The remains of breakfast and all of lunch were eaten quickly, and the furniture cleared from the middle of Elwing's room, and Chichiri indicated that both girls should sit on the floor. 

"As a beginning, I know that Elwing knows chi-manipulation, but do you have any knowledge of it, no da?" Chichiri asked Iris. 

"Chi-manipulation?"

"Energy spells." Elwing explained. 

"Oh!  Yes, of course I know energy spells."

"That should be very useful, no da.  Basically, you'll just be applying the same skill to a new area.  Why don't we start by examining what you do know, no da."

"Sounds reasonable." Elwing agreed. 

"When you do…'Energy Spells'… how do you control your chi, no da?" 

"Well, I picture the energy that surrounds me, then I visualize it flowing into my body and becoming focused between my hands." Iris explained. 

"In our world the energy is invisible, only I've found here, once I've focused it, it becomes visible." Elwing interrupted.

"ANYway… as I was saying before I was so RUDELY interrupted, I focus it into a ball between my hands, then put it to whatever use I intended it." Iris finished. 

"Alright, what I want you to do, then, is look not at the energy around you, but the latent energy inside you, no da." Chichiri instructed, "For now, I just want you to focus on locating it, and once you've done that, just observe it, no da."

Chichiri watched as both their gazes abstracted and they began the training which would allow them to control their new powers. 

For the first week, they trained only in one-hour sessions, with plenty of breaks in between.  During those breaks, they mostly relaxed, getting to know the seishi better and improving their riding skills.  For some reason, Tasuki insisted on being their riding instructor. 

A general example of a riding lesson would be the day when Iris, learning to saddle her own horse, didn't tighten the girth strap enough. She went to mount, at which she was now fairly proficient, and the saddle slipped right around.  She lost her balance and fell head first into the horse. Tasuki, of course, laughed profusely at her expense, but made not a move to help her. 

"Grrr… " Iris growled from her somewhat undignified position on the ground, "Dammit, you know perfectly well it's safe to touch me for short periods now, would one of you please give me a hand up?!"

"You can get yourself up!  It's your own damn fault!" Tasuki insisted. 

Elwing took one look at the murderous glint in her friend's eye and decided it was time to get out of there. "I'm going now, I guess you two can work this out." she announced, "Have fun, eh?" 

Tasuki and Iris both ignored her as she mounted up and rode off to find a quieter corner of the palace grounds. 

"What do you mean it's my fault?!" Iris ranted. 

"You're the one who put the damn saddle on, it's not my fault if you didn't cinch the fuckin' girth strap tight enough!" 

"Haven't you ever heard of chivalry?" 

"No, what the Hell's 'chivalry'?"

Iris just shook her head and laughed. "Of course you don't know what chivalry is.  Chivalry, my dear bandit king, is a code of behaviors which was imposed on knights in my world.  One of its main points was to be respectful to women and help them in all situations." 

Tasuki laughed. "What kind of dumbass idea is that?"

Iris threw up her hands in resignation. "Why do I bother even trying?"

Tasuki laughed more gently and walked over and caught her hand, pulling her to her feet. 

"If you were going to do that, why didn't you warn me?" Iris complained as she fought to regain her balance. 

"Hey, be happy I did anything at all. Girls are so godsdamn picky!" 

"You're right, sorry." Iris conceded, "Now, can you please tell me what I did wrong?  I thought for sure I'd pulled the girth strap as tight as it would go!" 

Tasuki took the saddle off and handed it to her. "Why don't you saddle your horse again, and I'll watch this time and tell you what you did wrong." he suggested.

Iris once again saddled her horse, and once she had tightened the girth strap as much as she could, she turned to Tasuki. "Well, what _did_ I do wrong?" she asked. 

"Actually, you did everythin' right, as far as it went, it was this damn horse playin' tricks on you." Tasuki explained, looking under the horse, "You see," he showed her, "how the belly looks fat?  Horses don't really like girth straps tight around their bellies, and who can fuckin' blame 'em, so sometimes they hold their breath while you do the strap up.  What you have to do is knee them in the belly so they blow out, then tighten the girth strap at the same time." which he then proceeded to demonstrate.

Iris grinned. "Well, that makes so much more sense!  I say the record is still undisputed, you are by far the best instructor I've ever had for riding." 

Tasuki got a strange look on his face. "It really is impossible for you to say anything without using more than five words, isn't it?" he asked her. 

Iris just glared at him and growled. 

Elwing, meanwhile, was riding at a slow, ambling walk through the palace gardens, thinking.  Her situation was still strange to her, and just to complicate matters, she now found herself confused about her feelings toward Chichiri.  She'd had a crush on him ever since she had first seen him, but it was safe to have a crush on someone you didn't really know.  Now he was here, and she was here… 'And even if it is a book, he's real enough,' she thought, 'and even sweeter and more wonderful the more I get to know him!'  Elwing sighed.  It was an impossible situation, of course.  Knowing what she did about Chichiri's past, Elwing was unsure if he would ever want a woman in his life again, and she didn't want to say anything which might make him feel he should treat her differently.  She sighed again and decided the best choice would be simply to wait and see how events might play out.  Not that it would make her feel any better, but at least it wouldn't make her feel any worse.

'Why are you so sad?' a little voice asked in her head. 

Elwing looked around and spotted Boushin hiding behind a bush.  She smiled.  'What are you doing out here, eh?  I though you had a nap at this time of day.' 

'I'm not tired!' Boushin insisted, 'Can I ride with you?  Please?'

Elwing smiled broadly. 'Sure you can ride with me.'  She dismounted and lifted Boushin up in front of her saddle, then got back on the horse. 

'You didn't tell me why you're sad.'

'I'm not sad, I'm just thinking.' Elwing insisted, 'You know, you're going to have to talk eventually.  Only a very few people can talk like this.' 

'How come you can?' he asked, 'Haha-ue and Chichi-ue can't.' 

'I don't really know for sure.' Elwing admitted, 'I think it was because… ' She lost her concentration and the thought-speech shattered as they came out of the small manicured "forest" onto the shores of the lake and she saw Chichiri on the other bank, fishing.  Nothing of this was visible in her face, but in her mental confusion, Boushin heard a faint, 'oh, I wish…'

'You are too sad!' he accused, 'You were just trying to change the subject!'

'Come now, little one, time for your nap.' Elwing chided gently and rode around the lake. 

Boushin pouted.  'You're still doing it

"Da!" Chichiri exclaimed when he noticed them, "I see you've found our fugitive from naptime, no da."

"I was just on my way to return him, actually." 

"See you in a couple of hours for your next lesson then, no da." 

"Seeya" Elwing waved. 

'How come Chich'ri-ojichan makes you sad?' Boushin asked, 'He always makes me happy, even if he can't really hear me.  I like him lots.' 

'So do I, sweetie, so do I.' Elwing answered, and that was all she would say on that subject. 

Over the next week, Elwing and Iris's training sessions increased in intensity and duration, and by the end of the week, Chichiri announced that they had their powers under control. 

Iris grinned. "Hey, cool!  Now we're certified… What would you say we're certified to do?" she asked Elwing. 

Elwing giggled. "I don't know, what would you say, Chichiri?" 

Chichiri got a quizzical expression on his face. "I don't know what you're talking about, no da.  You two are weird, na no da." 

"Thanks!" they said in unison, inclining their heads in an identical movement. 

Chichiri just shook his head. "Definitely weird, no da.  Just as a test, though, I want you both to meditate, and this time Iris, you must use your power, and Elwing, I want you to use _your_ power to see the meaning behind her prophesy, no da."

Both girls complied and Chichiri watched them as they slipped into a trance.  This was the part of each day's lesson he'd liked the best.  As she tranced, Elwing's face relaxed and seemed almost to change as much as his did when he took off his mask.  Somehow, even in the relaxed state of meditation, she managed to look sad, yet resigned, and Chichiri wondered what could have led such a kind young woman to be resigned to sadness.  He found Elwing fascinating somehow, but he didn't entirely understand his reaction to her.  For so long he had lived separated from others by a barrier of his own devising that it was difficult for him to believe that he could care for anyone anymore beyond friendship.  As he watched unguarded expressions flicker across Elwing's face he felt, for the first time in almost nine years, a strange, long-repressed urge to take this girl in his arms and perhaps stroke one finger down her jawline, and it confused him.  It seemed almost a betrayal of the feelings he had held so long within his heart for his dear, lost Kouran.  Those feelings which had been twisted by his best friend Hikou's betrayal into biter anger, but had mellowed to sadness and regret over the years.  Chichiri shook his head and averted his gaze as Elwing woke out of the trance.  He couldn't allow himself to fall in love, especially not with Elwing.  She would probably have to leave, the same way all the Miko had, and that kind of separation would be far too painful for both of them, so why create more pain? 

"Alright, first Iris must tell me her prophesy, then Elwing, you tell me what you saw of it, no da." Chichiri said, getting his thoughts back on track. 

Once Chichiri had confirmed that they had been successful in their attempts, he left their rooms, promising to break the good news to the other seishi at dinner. "See you then, no da!" he called back to them, and they both waved. 

Once he had left, they closed the door, making sure no one else was around, then settled onto the cushions on the floor for a conference. 

"So, what do you think will happen now?" Iris asked. 

"I don't know." Elwing admitted, "I don't think anyone really does.  Probably we'll have to go consult with Taiitsukun to find out what to do next, like Chichiri and I did before." 

"Well, whatever happens this is still the coolest thing that's ever happened to me!  I mean, we're speaking prophecy for a country of a world inside a book, how unbelievably cool is that?!"

"I'd think you'd believe it by now. After all, we've been here two weeks now." Elwing sighed, "The thing I'm beginning to wonder is whether this really is some anime somewhere." She massaged her temples and sighed again, "And where the heck this headache came from." 

"PMS?  You've sure been grouchy lately." Iris suggested. 

Elwing glared at her. "No, I highly doubt it.  What do you mean I've been grouchy?  I don't think I've been grouchy!" 

"You've been avoiding other people like the plague." 

"I have not!  I just haven't felt especially social the last few days.  Besides, I've been dealing with some stuff I wanted to work out on my own."

"Like what to do about the whole Chichiri situation?" Iris asked sympathetically and Elwing looked at her, startled, "Oh, don't look so surprised.  It's just, I've seen how you've been looking at him, and I think it might be a bit difficult is all." 

"Difficult.  Yeah, you could say that.  I've fallen in love with him, the more fool me. I should know better.  I always seem to fall for the unreachable ones." Elwing admitted shamefacedly and started massaging the back of her neck in an effort to reduce her escalating headache. 

"Are you and Tasuki getting along any better?" she asked in an attempt to change the subject.  

Iris rolled her eyes. "Tasuki is absolutely insufferable.  Cute, though!" she said with an angelic smile, then her face fell and she sighed, "And a rather impossible situation for me too.  He's made it pretty clear that the most I can ever hope for from him is friendship." 

"Did he actually say that?" Elwing asked, surprised. 

"No, of course not.  It's not like I'd actually bring that up.  It's just that he certainly doesn't seem to look at me as anything other than an annoyance.  He's being friendly enough, though, so I know at least that much is possible." 

Elwing patted Iris on the head. "Everything will work out, you'll see." She assured her friend. 

Nuriko, walking toward the dining hall, noticed Tamahome sitting very quietly in his room, seemingly lost in thought.  Nuriko snuck into the room and flicked the back of Tamahome's head, catapulting him onto the floor. "Ne, Tama-chan, what'cha thinking about?" 

"Nuriko, why can't you realize you're stronger than other people?  And stop calling me Tama-chan!" 

"Are you okay with all this?  I mean, I know you must miss Miaka, we all do, are you okay with having to be away from her?" Nuriko asked kindly. 

"Yeah, I'm okay with it.  Somehow I feel I _am_ with her, even though she's not here." he smiled, "Sometimes I can almost hear her voice.  Hey, if Tatara did this, so can I." 

Nuriko patted him LIGHTLY on the shoulder. "Whatever you say, Tamahome, whatever you say." he headed for the door, "See you at dinner." 

"Yeah, right, dinner." Tamahome nodded. 

As Nuriko walked down the hall, he heard an odd gurgling sound... one which had become familiar to all the residents of the royal palace over the last two weeks.  He laughed and walked over to Chiriko's door. 

"Chiriko, stop studying and come eat dinner!" he called and entered the room. 

"But the second exam is coming up soon, and I don't know how may chances I'll get to really study." Chiriko complained. 

"If you want to make it through that exam, you have to build up reserves, you know that!  Eat well now, and rest well before the exam starts.  Even if seishi do have a higher level of endurance, you can't go nine days on little or no reserves!  We just got you back, and we plan on keeping you around!" Nuriko insisted, "Now are you coming to dinner willingly, or will I have to carry you?"

Chiriko laughed in defeat.  "All right, all right, I'm coming.  My stomach sees the wisdom in your words." he conceded. 

" 'The conversation at dinner was full of congratulations for the girls from the other world.  It was decided that a trip to the one who governs the world, Taiitsukun, was in order.' " Pithya read, "You know, the style is a little stilted, but this is pretty good reading." she admitted. 

Catherine just nodded, then asked, "How are Elwing and Iris?"

"They seem okay, although for some reason it's started mentioning Elwing getting headaches.  A little lovelorn too, I think."

"Lovelorn?  Well, that certainly seems to fit the pattern of the show. Catherine commented (she had just finished watching episode four).  "Elwing's pattern too.  If she would just come out and say something, that darned 'Chichiri' guy might admit to his own feelings, but NO!  She has to be all careful and concerned about hurting his feelings."

"How can you hurt someone's feelings by telling them you have a thing for them?" Catherine asked, confused. 

"Search me!  I only know what I read, and they haven't explained that part, just that it has something to do with his past." 

"Who is Chichiri anyway?  He hasn't been introduced yet." 

"She pointed him out to me in the opening sequence once." Pithya hit the pause button as Chichiri came on screen, "He's that one." She pointed.

Catherine just shook her head. "I don't know what she sees in him!" 

"Herself, apparently."  

Answers to Questions:

Otaku Pitcher:  Chapter 12 does exist, it just needs some refining, as does chapter 13, I'm hoping to catch up to at least chapter 18 and stay ahead of myself by having a slow updating schedule, then I don't feel too crazily under pressure to produce which, paradoxically, tends to give me writer's block. #_#

Iris:  I assume you're referring to Ch. 10?  Note the rating and the mention of it being for future chapters?  That would be why ^_~

And now!  Next chapter, romance and fainting and fun stuff!  My favourite chapter!!  ^_~  Look for it next week!


	7. Chapter 06: Heartsick

Hey, look it's an early release!  I'm posting this today instead of Tuesday because I'm going out of town for a few days for my otouto's birthday, so I didn't want to end up posting it late.  Glad to know everyone's enjoying my weekly postings, and I'll see you all next week again!

Chapter 06:

Heartsick

Elwing hardly slept that night.  Between her escalating headache and her mind that just wouldn't stop turning over thoughts all night, she got maybe four or five hours sleep in total.  The servants had learned that she was rarely up in time for breakfast, so generally left a tray just inside the door for her.  Sometime around nine or ten in the morning she finally gave up her futile 

attempts to sleep. 

"I wish I'd thought to bring some aspirin with me." she groaned, "This headache only seems to be getting worse." 

She ate a bit of breakfast, but she wasn't really hungry, so she got dressed and went out for a bit of a walk in an attempt to clear her head. 

Over breakfast, Iris came to a decision.  She'd noticed Elwing's restless night, and her constant complaints of headaches previous to that, and she was getting worried about her friend.  When the meal was over, she took Mitsukake aside and explained the situation to him. 

"So, you see, I'm afraid she might be catching something, and she has a bad habit of ignoring things like that until they knock her off her feet.  I just wondered if you could check on her for me." 

"I'll do that." Mitsukake nodded and headed off to Elwing's room. 

Elwing leaned over the railing of a gazebo, eyes closed, trying to calm the throbbing in her head.  

Chichiri, walking along the path to the lake, fishing pole slung over his shoulder, noticed her and threw a cheerful "Good morning, no da." her way. 

Elwing looked up and smiled back at him. "Good morning to you too!  How are you this lovely morning?" she asked. 

"I thought you could feel things, don't you know how I am, no da?" 

Elwing flinched. "I don't go where I'm not invited anymore, you taught me how not to, remember?" she flinched again and covered her mouth in a futile attempt to recall words already uttered, "I'm sorry!  I'm sorry!  I didn't mean that the way it sounded.  I only meant I didn't want to be seen as prying." Elwing hung her head and a tear trickled down her cheek. 

"It's okay, no da." Chichiri assured her, "I knew what you meant, no da."

"Sometimes I speak before thinking." Elwing admitted apologetically. 

"Are you well, no da?" he asked, "You sound unhappy, no da." 

"I'm fine, I just didn't sleep very well." she admitted, "You go ahead and fish." She made herself smile. 

"See you later then, no da!" 

She waved at him with a smile on her face until he was out of sight, then sank to her knees and cried quietly into her hands. "Oh, Chichiri," she whispered brokenly, "how could I have said that?" 

Mitsukake finally found Elwing just in time to hear the last part of this conversation. "Hey." He said, and laid a gentle hand on her shoulder, "Are you alright?" 

"Oh!" she said, and sat up very straight, "I didn't know you were there!" she hastily wiped her eyes, "I'm fine, I just have a bit of a headache, and my allergies have been bugging me somewhat." She mimed rubbing her eyes. 

"I know you were crying, I was nearby.  Iris told me you didn't sleep last night.  She's worried about you." Mitsukake admonished. 

"It's because of the headache that I couldn't sleep." Elwing admitted, "It's funny, you know, I can take away others' headaches with only a little effort, but I can't do a thing about my own." she laughed halfheartedly. 

"There are things I can give you for your head, but will you be alright besides the headache?" 

"I'll be fine, I just need to cry sometimes.  I'm sure you have other pressing business to attend.  If my headaches get any worse, I'll be sure to let you know." Elwing said dismissively and turned away. 

Mitsukake sat down beside her. "I don't have any pressing business, and you've come to be like a little sister to me, I want to know what's making you cry." 

Elwing sighed deeply. "You really want to know?" she asked.

Mitsukake nodded. 

"Okay then.  I'm crying because I'm in a hopeless love, and because I said something I shouldn't have to him and probably insulted him no end." 

"It's Chichiri isn't it?  The one you call your 'hopeless love'?" he asked.  Her face fell and tears began trickling down her cheeks once again. "Have you told him yet?" 

She looked up at Mitsukake, tear-streaked face showing surprise. "I couldn't do that!  He's been hurt so much before.  I don't want to dredge up old memories.  And besides, who am I to push myself on one who has obviously shut thoughts of love away?" she started crying harder.  "I'll be fine… really.  I just need to get this out of my system.  No offence, but could you leave for a bit?  And perhaps make sure I'm not disturbed?  I really don't like an audience when I'm crying." Elwing asked. 

Mitsukake nodded and patted her on the shoulder as he rose to go.  Just as he was leaving, Tama jumped off his shoulder and settled, purring, on Elwing's lap.  She smiled a bit, even through her tears, and stroked him. 

"So, we have to go visit the old bag.  Wonder what the Hell she'll make us do this time?" Tasuki mused. 

"What's Taiitsukun like?" Iris asked him. 

"She's old and wrinkled and ugly, but she's also damn powerful, I wouldn't wanna get in her way." Tasuki explained. "Why're you always hangin' around me?" he asked her suddenly, having only just realized it was just the two of them together again. 

"Because you're more fun than anyone else, and I don't have anything better to do." she told him. 'And because I like you a whole lot, even if you do swear too much and laugh at me.' she admitted to herself, 'I know that somewhere under all that you have the capacity to care very much about your companions, and hopefully, someday, care a little about me.' 

"Don't you have anythin' better to do?  Why don't you hang around with Nuriko or Tamahome or somebody?" 

"Actually, I do have to talk to Mitsukake about something." Iris admitted, "You haven't seen him around anywhere have you?" 

"No, but you might find him in his room.  He spends a lot of time mixin' herbs for his medicines." 

"Thanks, I'll try that." Iris said, and rose to leave, "I'll see you later." 

After Iris left, Nuriko walked in. "She seems to be spending an awful lot of time in your company, Tasuki, is there something you're not telling us?" he asked and winked as he plopped himself down on the bed. 

"What the Hell are you implyin'?" Tasuki asked. 

"Oh, I just thought maybe you were finally thinking about settling down with someone." Nuriko grinned. 

"Are you fuckin' crazy? I fuckin' hate women!" 

"But I thought you told Miaka that you didn't hate women anymore." 

"Okay, I don't really, but they're so fuckin' cunnin'!  You just can't trust them.  I certainly damn well wouldn't wanna 'settle down' with one!" 

"Oh, so the stories about you and Kouji _are_ true!" Nuriko gloated. 

"Hey! What the Hell are you talkin' about?  What fuckin' stories, dammit?" 

"The stories that you two are really gay." 

"NO WAY IN HELL!!" Tasuki objected, "I'm not fuckin' gay!  I just wouldn't ever want a wife.  The things they can do to a guy… " he shuddered. 

Nuriko gave Tasuki a strange look. "You sound almost as though you're afraid of women." he said, stunned.

"I'm not scared of anythin', dammit! It's just that I have FIVE older sisters who run my life anytime I'm home, and my mother's even worse.  She almost smothered me to death when I was a baby.  Shit!  I don't even like thinkin' about it!  Wouldn't you be a bit wary of women in my situation?" 

Nuriko shuddered himself. "Wow, that is kinda scary!  No wonder you never talk about your family!" he smiled again. "I'm sure Iris would be kind to you.  She seems like a nice understanding girl." 

"I say it again:  Are you fuckin' crazy?!  She's weird and violent, and she's always hangin' around." 

"Maybe there's a reason for that." Nuriko suggested. 

"Oh, just shut the fuck up.  So, how are you and Houki gettin' along?  Is she gonna share Hotohori with you?" 

Nuriko glared at him. "Wanna get smacked?" 

Tasuki just laughed harder, so Nuriko slammed him into the wall and stormed out. 

Meanwhile, Iris was wandering the halls looking for Mitsukake.  Her mind wasn't really on her quest, though, it was roughly split between worry over her friend's illness and thoughts of Tasuki.  Even though she know her chances of winning his love were slim to none, it didn't stop her from wishing it was possible.  Being here in this world was like a dream come true for her, but that dream would be incomplete if she couldn't somehow convince Tasuki that loving her wouldn't kill him.  She was becoming more and more doubtful of this ever happening, though. 

"Oh, why does he have to be so cute and so darned unreachable?" Iris complained to the sympathetic wall, "Personally, I think I might even be worse off than Elwing.  At least, she told me, Chichiri used to have a fiancee, so she knows it's possible for him to fall in love.  With Tasuki… " Iris sighed. "What is wrong with Elwing anyway? I've never seen her get a headache that didn't dip in intensity from time to time.  This one seems to be getting steadily worse as time goes on." She just shook her head.  Finally she noticed Mitsukake.  "Hey, Mitsukake!" she called and ran up to him, "Did you find Elwing?  How is she?" 

Mitsukake nodded to Iris in greeting. "She seems a bit touchy.  Certainly her headache is bothering her, but I don't really know what the source of it is.  All I could tell was that she was very much on edge." He didn't mention Elwing's crying fit, or what she had said about her feelings for Chichiri.  After all, he could see in Elwing that same need for privacy that was in him too, and felt it would be only fair to respect it. 

In another of the palace's myriad hallways, Elwing was also looking for Mitsukake.  Her headache had gotten to the point of being a migraine, and although Tama, being a sweet and helpful cat, was trying to lead her, she was having a hard time following him with her vision blanking out every so often and her equilibrium turned on its side.  She felt almost drunk, and had to walk with her arm on the wall for support.  Tama hurried back to her, and with a worried "Meow" circled around behind her ankles to turn her in the right direction. 

Chichiri was still fishing as the sun went down, the beautiful and peaceful surroundings allowing him to turn things over in his mind. 

'On the one hand, Elwing is an attractive young woman who is also kind and concerned with her friends.  On the other hand, she seems to have been hurt at some time in the past, and I have no intention of compounding that.' he thought, 'If I care about her, how do I know she could ever care about me?  Then again, she seems quite capable of handling her own sadness, so why should I think that just because my past is sad, she wouldn't be just as adept at dealing with the sadness I carry with me?' Chichiri lectured himself. 'I have taken holy vows, and yet, I can't use that as a way out of this dilemma, since marriage is certainly allowed in my sect of Chi'an.' 

Chichiri broke off his musings as he became aware of an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.  "Something's wrong with Elwing, no da!" he exclaimed, and popped into his kasa to where she was. 

The scene which met Chichiri was one of distress.  Elwing was leaning against the wall with an obviously concerned Tama-neko tugging at her skirt. 

"What's wrong, no da?" he asked worriedly. 

"I don't feel very good." Elwing moaned, "I wanna go to bed, but this darned cat won't let me." she complained. 

"Lean on me, I'll help you, no da." Chichiri offered. 

"Thanks." she said with a weak smile, "You're so nice." She leaned on his shoulder and he led her down the hallway toward her room. 

Chichiri could feel heat radiating off her. "You have a fever, no da!" 

"If you say so. Can I go to sleep now?" 

"Not just yet, no da.  We have to get you to your room first.  I'd use the kasa, but that would probably make you fee worse, no da." 

Elwing was concentrating her entire being on simply putting one foot in front of the other, and so didn't respond. 

Luckily they weren't far from her room, so when her feet finally buckled out from under her, Chichiri was able to carry her the last few steps into the room and lay her gently on the bed. 

"You just rest here, I'll get Mitsukake and I'll be right back, no da." 

"No! Don't leave!" Elwing pleaded, grabbing his arm, "Stay here and talk to me.  Please?  I really don't feel very good, and I can't see anything in here.  I need to focus on a voice.  Please?!" she begged. 

"Alright, Tama's a pretty smart cat, I'll send him, no da." Chichiri agreed. He picked Tama-neko up and looked very seriously at him. "I need you to get Mitsukake for me, no da." he instructed the cat.  Tama meowed and ran off as soon as he was placed on the ground. "You see, I'm still here with you, no da." Chichiri reassured Elwing.  He pulled up a chair beside the bed and began telling her a story about the seishi's trip to Hokkan-koku, and how Tasuki was so afraid of water. 

Mitsukake and Iris were still talking, or rather, Iris was still talking to Mitsukake, when Tama found them. He meowed urgently and indicated that they should follow him, then took off at a run back toward Elwing's room, Iris and Mitsukake trailing behind.  The commotion as they ran by alerted the rest of the seishi that something was wrong, and they followed as well.  When they reached the room, Chichiri was sitting holding Elwing's hand, and she was seemingly unconscious.  She didn't have enough energy to speak, anyway. 

"Thank Suzaku you're here, no da!" Chichiri said to Mitsukake with a sigh of relief, "She has a fever of some sort, no da." 

The room was crowded with all the seishi, Iris, and two of the palace guards, so Mitsukake shooed them out. 

"I need room to work." he insisted, "If you could all wait outside, I'll see what I can do." 

"Even me, no da?" Chichiri asked, dismayed. 

"Even you.  I'll let you know as soon as there is any change, but I just need to do this privately this time." 

Chichiri acknowledged this, and went to wait outside with everyone else.  Hotohori dismissed the guards, who had come because they thought someone might be under attack, and everyone else waited anxiously outside the door. 

Inside the room, Mitsukake was worried.  He was fairy sure Elwing's sickness was being caused by mental anguish of some sort, and he wasn't sure whether his healing powers would be of much help. He was willing to try, however.  He knelt by Elwing's bed and extended his left palm over her, letting the green energies of his healing power flow through her.  It actually seemed to work a little.  Elwing lifted herself up on her elbows, but her gaze was abstracted and blank. 

"Chichiri?" she whispered. 

"No, it's Mitsukake." he corrected her, but she didn't seem to hear him.

"Chichiri, please, you have to decide!  One way or the other it's your decision, but PLEASE make it!" she pleaded, "It's the indecision that's killing me!" she slumped back on the pillows, her strength spent, "Please?  I love you… " her voice faded out as she slipped out of consciousness again. 

Now Mitsukake knew the cure.  He stepped out of the room to face the anxiously waiting crowd. 

"Is she okay now?" Iris asked 

"No." Mitsukake answered, "Her illness is one of her mind affecting her body, but I think I may know how to cure her.  Could you watch over her until I return?" he asked Iris. 

"Of course!" she agreed, and went to sit with her sick friend. 

"Chichiri, I need to talk to you." Mitsukake laid a gentle hand on the older seishi's shoulder and steered him into Iris's presently empty room. 

"Is there anything I can do, no da" Chichiri asked. 

"That's what I need to talk to you about.  Elwing managed to partly regain consciousness when I tried to cure her.  She thought I was you." he explained, then repeated her words to Chichiri. "If you know what she meant, for goodness sake make your mind up." 

"I had no idea, no da." Chichiri said, stunned, "I know what she meant, and I think I can make the decision now, no da."

Chichiri opened the door connecting the two rooms, then shooed Iris out into her own room. 

Once Iris had closed the door behind her, Chichiri sat down on the bed and took his mask off, laying it on the chair. 

"I'm sorry.  I didn't mean for this to happen." he apologized, so serious he actually dropped his "no da's". He smoothed her hair away from her forehead.  "You said I need to make a decision, so I'll make it.  I love you, Elwing." he let his hand rest lightly on her shoulder, "I don't know why I wouldn't let myself believe it.  I guess it's just that it's been so long since I felt this way about anyone." he clenched his other hand into a fist, "And because of it I almost got you killed!  How could I be so stupid?  I thought I'd learned from my mistakes, and yet once again someone I care about almost dies because of me.  I would understand if… " 

Elwing raised her hand weakly and placed it across his lips to silence him. "Shhh… It's okay, I'm all right now." she interrupted. 

Chichiri smiled and gathered her into his arms and hugged her tightly to him. "You woke up, no da!" he said happily. 

Elwing hugged him back, reveling in the feeling of being in his arms, a sensation she had all but given up all hope of ever knowing. "Why didn't you tell me sooner how you felt?" she asked him. 

Chichiri pulled back to look her in the face. "I wasn't sure how you'd react, no da.  There were a bunch of other little reasons, but that was the main one; that, and I was worried that, like Suzaku no Miko, you might have to go back home to your own world, and that would be more difficult for you if you knew how I felt about you.  I've realized, though, that no matter what happens, it is better to at least have known love openly than to have loved only from behind my mask, no da." 

"I have to admit that I wasn't much more forthcoming about my own emotions toward you." Elwing said sheepishly.  She reached out to touch his face, running her fingers along the outside edge of his scar, "Since I already knew some of the pain of your past, I was loath to push myself in where my attentions might be less than welcome.  Besides, I've never been very good at telling guys how I feel about them, I'm always afraid they'll laugh at me." 

"But surely other men have commented on your beauty, no da?"

"No, not a single one.  Besides, I wouldn't exactly say I'm beautiful… "

"Of course not, then you'd sound like Hotohori, no da.  Saying you're beautiful is my job now, no da." 

Elwing blushed and smiled sweetly. "You're so nice!" she said. 

Chichiri took her face in his hands and looked at her seriously. "I wasn't joking, why is that so hard for you to believe, no da?" 

"I'm willing to believe you, it's just, the only people who've ever told me that were relatives, and they're expected to be polite." 

"I find that difficult to understand, no da.  Surely one or two men at least would have complimented you, men being what they are.  Was it perhaps that your father kept you under lock and key?  I can think of no other reason, no da." 

At the mention of her father, Chichiri saw a raw flash of pain pass over Elwing's features, then she sighed and did something he could not have hoped for; she let her defenses down.  The changes which he had previously only seen when she meditated passed over her face, and although that face was sad, it now seemed somehow more real and alive. 

Chichiri followed the urge he had felt the other day and traced the line of her jaw and cheek with his hand. "This is the face I fell in love with, no da." he said gently, "What makes it so sad, no da?" 

"A lot of things, actually, but most of them come from the fact that my father left us when I was four." 

"He died, no da?" 

"No, left." 

"How can that happen, no da?" Chichiri asked, confused. 

Elwing explained to him the system of divorce in her world. 

"That must have been hard, no da." he sympathized. 

"I was the one who was strong for everyone else, even though I was only four, so I had to be really good at being cheerful.  That's why I try to keep my sadness from showing on my face." she explained. 

"Well, we can take turns being strong for one another then, no da." Chichiri smiled.  Elwing smiled back, and thought to herself that she must be the luckiest girl anywhere.  Suddenly she remembered something. "I guess I don't need this anymore." she said, unclasping the necklace she wore and taking a ring off it. 

"What's that, no da?" 

"This?" her ears blushed, "Well, I found this outside my door one day, and I looked at it as a sign.  No one claimed it, so I kept it.  You see, in my world, a man will sometimes give a woman a ring which belongs to him, and if it doesn't fit her, she'll usually wear it on a chain around her neck so it can rest above her heart.  Anyway, I kept the ring to pretend that someone had given it to me." 

"May I see it, no da?" 

"Sure." Elwing handed it over. 

Chichiri turned the ring in his hands as he examined it. "Do you realize it has my character on it, no da?" he asked. 

"It does?" Elwing said, surprised. 

Chichiri pointed out "sho" in the center of the ring's design. 

"You're right!  I never thought of that!  The same symbol means 'number' in my writing system, you see." 

Chichiri tried on the ring and found that it fit perfectly. "I thought so, no da." 

"Thought what?" 

"I know this ring, no da." He looked very sad. 

"What's wrong?" Elwing asked, reaching out to catch the single tear which trickled down his cheek. 

"I don't know how it got to your world, but this ring was an engagement gift, no da.  After Kouran died, I threw it into the raging river, na no da." 

"You should keep it, then.  Such strange coincidences never happen by accident." 

"Thank you, no da." Chichiri said, cheering up again. "We should probably let the others know you're awake, no da." 

"That might be a good idea." Elwing agreed. 

"You just stay here, no da. I'll let everyone else in, no da." He leaned down and kissed her, putting all his love into that simple act of brushing lips, then put his mask back on and went to the door. "Watch this, no da." he whispered.  He made a cutting motion with his right hand, opening the door, and Iris, Tasuki, Nuriko, and Tamahome fell into the room. 

"Stupid Obake-chan, listening at doors!" Tasuki accused Tamahome.

"Look who's talking, Fang boy!  And don't call me Obake-chan!" Tamahome yelled back.  The two of them started to fight, and everyone else tried to ignore them. 

"We were just leaning on the door." Iris insisted, and Elwing laughed. 

"Yeah, sure. Whatever you say, sister dear." 

"Are you feeling better?" Chiriko asked. 

"I think I'll live." she smiled at Chichiri, who smiled back. 

"What was wrong?" asked Hotohori.

"I'm not even really sure." Elwing looked over at Chichiri again, who shrugged. 

"We found the cure, that's all that matters, no da." 

"What could cure something even Mitsukake couldn't?" Chiriko asked.

"The truth, no da." Chichiri said simply. 

"And the truth shall set you free!" Iris quoted. 

Elwing laughed and everyone else looked confused. "It's an old saying from home." she explained, "When's dinner?" she asked, "I'm suddenly very hungry." 

Chiriko's stomach growled in agreement, and everyone laughed. 

"I guess dinner should be soon." Nuriko suggested. Elwing yawned. 

"You should sleep for a bit, no da.  I'll come and wake you when it's time for dinner, no da." Everyone filed out of the room.  The last to leave was Chichiri.  "Sleep well, no da." he said, smiling back at her.

"I will now." Elwing said, "I'll have sweet dreams, I know." She blew a kiss after him as he went out the door, then snuggled under the covers and went right to sleep, still exhausted from her illness.  

::Grins:: Yay! Fluffy stuff!  Hope you all enjoyed, now go brush your teeth! ::laughs:: okay, maybe it wasn't quite THAT bad for sweet-overload.  Next chapter things are starting to move, and it's off to see "the old bag" as Tasuki insists on calling her.  Oy, Ta-chan, I don't think she _likes_ that name…… -_-;;;


	8. Chapter 07: Instructions

And we're back to Tuesday's regularly scheduled release!  Chapter 7 is here, full of fun and more difficulties for poor Iris…why'd she have to have feelings for such a CLUELESS guy?!  LOL.  Actually, I wouldn't say Tasuki's totally clueless, he just doesn't know what to look for……ah well!  More secrets of the reasons the girls are there will be revealed and they're heading out again!  Enjoy!

Chapter 07:

Instructions

After they left Elwing's room, everyone went their separate ways. It was a clear night, so Iris went to get her coat, then headed for the garden to do some stargazing. Tasuki, Nuriko and Tamahome were leaning on a railing, discussing who should go into town for supplies for the trip to Mt Taikyoku and they waved at Iris as she passed. 

"Hi Tasuki!" she called as she passed, "Hi Nuriko!  Hi Tamahome!" 

"Where are you going?" Nuriko asked her. 

"Stargazing.  I just love to gaze up at the night sky, and this is a perfectly clear and moonless night.  I'll see you later!" she waved goodbye. 

"I think she likes you, Tasuki." Nuriko said teasingly. 

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about, gay-boy." Tasuki objected. 

"If you don't do something soon, you might just loose your chance.  Who knows if she'll stay interested," Nuriko said seriously, "She's a pretty girl, I might just decide to go after her myself, so take your chance while you have it, otherwise someone else will." 

"You're so fuckin' crazy.  Why would I want any girl hangin' around? Especially Iris?  She already seems to be every-bloody-where I am.  It bugs the Hell out of me!" 

Tamahome laughed. "Oh, do you deny you have feelings for her?" he said in a mocking tone, "So what was with all that 'Let me teach you to ride Iris', 'Let me show you around the palace Iris' stuff? And you were very protective when she was sick!"

"Shut up, damn you!" 

"Ah, he refuses to answer!  Surely a sign!"

"I told you to shut up, Obake-chan!"

"Don't call me Obake-chan!" 

Nuriko just shook his head and set off after Iris. There were a few things he wanted to find out from her. 

When Nuriko found Iris she was lying on a bench with her hands behind her head, gazing up at the night sky. 

"What are you looking at?" he asked, crouching down so his head was at the same level as hers. 

Iris pointed to a group of stars which was just rising over the palace roof.  "That one. It looks so bright and cheerful, somehow." 

Nuriko laughed. "Bright, perhaps, but I don't know about cheerful, that's Tasuki." 

"Really?  Cool!  Where are you?" Iris asked. 

Nuriko pointed out his constellation, then all the rest of the Suzaku constellations as she stood up beside him.

"Did you want to talk to me about something?" Iris asked Nuriko, "Surely you didn't follow me here just to stargaze." 

"Actually, I did have a question for you." Nuriko admitted, "I don't mean to pry, but over the last couple of weeks I've noticed something." He hesitated, then went on, "Your feelings toward Tasuki… You're in love with him, aren't you?"

Iris was grateful for the darkness which hid her blush. "Um… yeah.  Is that a problem or something?" she asked hesitantly. 

"No, no problem, really.  I just wanted to tell you not to give up hope.  Tasuki is pretty attached to you, even if he won't admit it to himself."

Iris sighed. "If you say so.  I'm beginning to think he sees me as little more than an annoyance."

"How'd you end up falling for him anyway?" Nuriko asked, genuinely curious, "Most girls don't like bandits all that much." 

"Well, beside the obvious fact that he's incredibly good looking, I get the feeling he's hiding a lot under that gruff exterior.  I would bet he cares more than he would like to admit about those he accepts as friends." Iris explained. 

These reasons surprised her a bit.  It was easy for even her to sometimes forget the true depth of Tasuki's character. 

"You honestly love him.  And not just because of the obvious things." Nuriko said, a little surprised, "I never would have thought our Tasuki could inspire love in the breast of a woman.  But then, I guess I shouldn't be so surprised.  Love comes where it will, and it will not be denied when it does. I'm a living example." He laughed. 

"It won't be denied, maybe, but it seems fairly easy to ignore by its object sometimes." Iris said, feeling somewhat downhearted. 

"It'll work out, you'll see." Nuriko assured her and gave her a brotherly hug.

It was at this point that Tasuki found them. "What the Hell are you two doin'?!" he yelled. 

"Nothing at all." Nuriko said, letting go of Iris, but leaving his arm across her shoulders, "Why should you care anyway?  I thought you didn't want a girl hanging around?" 

Iris was uncharacteristically silent during this exchange.  In fact, she was mortally embarrassed, and wanted nothing else than to go running out of there, but Nuriko's arm across her shoulders was actually holding her in place more firmly than if she were chained to a post. 

"I don't fuckin' care!  I couldn't damn well care less what the fuck the two of you do in your spare time!  I just came to tell you that dinner's ready." Tasuki said and stormed off. 

When he was gone, Iris started to cry. "It really is useless!" she sobbed, "Now he must think I like you, not him, and everything's ruined!" 

Nuriko let her cry against his shoulder and stroked her hair comfortingly. "Not really.  At least you know he cares more than a little about you, or else why would he have been so outraged?  With Tasuki it takes a real crisis to get him to admit his true feelings.  You'll see. It was a bit of a test, actually.  I followed you here, knowing he would find some excuse to follow me.  I wanted to see how he would react." 

"A test?" Iris asked weakly. 

"Yeah, and he passed it with flying colours, ne?  If he isn't already in love with you, I'd say he's certainly falling for you."  Nuriko encouraged her. 

Even with Nuriko's reassurances that all would be well, Iris was still fairly quiet at dinner.  Everyone except Nuriko just assumed she must be tired, and so didn't really comment on it.  The conversation around the table was all about the impending journey to visit Taiitsukun. 

"Surely Taiitsukun must know more about Suzaku no Mi and Suzaku no Mune." Hotohori said. 

"Well, while I was training with Taiitsukun, I did once or twice look at her copy of the _Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho_, no da. It seemed to be somewhat longer than that of Suzaku, although it read exactly the same to me. The added length may have been instructions about Suzaku no Mi and Suzaku no Mune, no da." Chichiri suggested. "Hey, Tasuki, how come you're so mopey, no da?"

"I'm not mopey, dammit!" Tasuki snapped. He glanced down the table at Iris, who was concentrating on her food as though it might be something other than it appeared to be, then over at Elwing, sitting next to Chichiri just close enough to occasionally brush elbows, and glowered down at his dinner. 

After that, dinner conversation dwindled, the obvious tension at the table dampening nearly everyone's spirits. 

That night, before bed, Elwing cornered Iris. "What's wrong?" she asked, "You're not your usual cheery self." 

"Tasuki hates me."

"Well, I wouldn't say he exactly showers you with affection, but I don't think he hates you." Elwing reassured her friend, "He was practically radiating jealousy at dinner.  What happened between you two?" 

Iris explained the rather painful confrontation in the gardens.  Elwing patted her shoulder comfortingly and she winced. 

"I think I have bruises from Nuriko." she explained. 

Elwing laughed. "Don't you ever pay attention to what you're saying before it comes out of your mouth?" 

"What was wrong with you really?" Iris asked, changing the subject. 

"I honestly don't know.  Things are certainly alright now, though."

"You seem a lot happier, did you finally resolve things with Chichiri?" 

"You know perfectly well what went on, you were listening at the door!  I am a lot happier, though." she smiled and yawned, "And still pretty tired. I'm going to bed now." 

"Me too, I guess." Iris sighed

The next morning preparations began for a journey to Taiitsukun. There was still one major issue which needed to be resolved, though. Hotohori was insistent that he should accompany the rest of the seishi to Mt. Taikyoku, and his advisors, having only just gotten their Emperor back from the dead, were understandably reluctant to let him out of their sight.  Finally, frustrated, Hotohori dismissed the advisors from his presence.

Houki came up behind him and began massaging his shoulders. "They just want to protect you." she said. 

"I know, but sometimes it's just too much.  I always used to feel like a bird in a cage, and now it's starting once again." 

Houki continued to ply her magic, and Hotohori let himself relax into his wife's hands. "If you really feel you need to go, I could fill in for you temporarily." Houki offered. 

"You did a very good job while I was gone.  For more than two years you managed Konan with an expert hand." 

"Thank you." Houki blushed. 

"It's a heavy burden. Are you sure you'd really want to take it up again, even for a little while?" Hotohori asked. 

"I understand the need to get away from the stresses of ruling every once in a while.  I would miss you, but I wouldn't mind for a short time.  After all, what are we here for, if not to support one another?" Houki smiled. 

Hotohori turned and kissed her lovingly. "You have the most beautiful soul." he told her. 

"Thank you." she murmured. 

They were kissing more, and didn't notice when the silent little Boushin walked into the room, looking for a good morning hug.  Hotohori was kissing Houki's neck when she finally saw him. 

"Good morning, Sweetness." she said. 

Hotohori felt her words more than he heard them.  He turned around to greet Boushin. "Good morning, son." he said, regaining his composure as only an Emperor could.  He grinned and picked his son up. "You just love sneaking up on me, don't you?  Are you going to be a good little spy and report back to my advisers on me?"

Boushin giggled and shook his head. 

"You wouldn't tell on me, would you? You're such a good boy." Hotohori kissed his forehead and put him down. 

"Come now, Sweet, it's time for you to get dressed." Houki smiled depreciatingly at her husband as she ushered their son back to his own room. 

"Why do I always have to carry things?" Nuriko complained. 

"Because you're the strongest, no da." Chichiri told him, "We all tend to be assigned the jobs we're suited to, no da." 

"At least you have something to do, Tamahome complained, "I'm bored out of my skull!" 

"What are you complaining about?" growled a voice behind them. 

"Aaargh!  Taiitsukun!" they all screamed.  Everyone else came running. 

"What's going on?" Iris asked, "Yaaagh!  Who the Hell is that?" 

Tasuki tapped her on the shoulder. "That's Taiitsukun." he whispered, "It's not a good idea to swear at the old bag, she doesn't like it." 

"I heard that Tasuki." Taiitsukun warned and whacked both of them over the head with Tasuki's Tessen. "You have completed the training of Elwing and Iris, and were about to seek me out, this I know.  I also know that you can't afford to waste the time it would take you to journey to Mt. Taikyoku." Taiitsukun explained, "Now, listen carefully.  The last line of the_ Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho_ mentions two girls, Suzaku no Mi and Suzaku no Mune, who will come some time after Suzaku no Miko's three wishes are granted.  Since you were able to learn control over your powers, Elwing and Iris, come forward." Taiitsukun commanded. 

After glancing at one another out of the corners of their eyes, Elwing and Iris did as they were told, stopping when they were about a foot away from Taiitsukun.  They knelt, and their characters blazed to life. 

"A country cannot survive without a prophesy, and that is why you are here." she told them, "Iris, you are Suzaku no Mi, the eye of Suzaku.  You have been given the power to see the future." 

Iris nodded her head, for once in her life at a complete loss for words. 

"Elwing, you are Suzaku no Mune, the heart of Suzaku.  You have been given the power to experience the feelings of others." 

Elwing mirrored Iris's nod. 

"By working in concert, the two of you will write a new prophesy for Konan-koku, but first you must prepare yourselves.  Your first task will be to seek out the Crystal of Clear Sight.  It is a talisman which will allow Suzaku no Mi better understanding of her visions." 

"How will we find it?" asked Iris, no longer tongue-tied. 

"I was just getting to that." Taiitsukun glared at the offending prophetrix, "To find the Crystal of Clear Sight, you must journey to Sairo-koku, the home of the Tiger-God Byakko.  Once you have found it, you must not use the crystal until you are back within the boarders of Konan-koku." 

"Why not?" Iris asked 

"The result could be disastrous for everyone." Taiitsukun refused to elaborate. 

"What is our purpose in all this, no da?" Chichiri asked. 

"The seishi must protect Suzaku no Mi and Suzaku no Mune just as you would Suzaku no Miko.  In addition, Chichiri, you are Suzaku no Mune's personal protector," he walked forward to stand behind Elwing, one hand resting protectively on her shoulder, "and Tasuki, you are the personal protector of Suzaku no Mi."

Tasuki got a wary expression on his face. "Why me?" he asked plaintively. 

Taiitsukun glared at him. 

Elwing, even without trying, could feel abject dejection radiating from her friend.  She heard a muffled sob. 

So did Tasuki.  He felt a pain like the shot of an arrow pierce through him. "I was only kiddin', really!  Just a joke!" he insisted and came to stand behind Iris, hesitantly reaching out to touch her shoulder. 

Nuriko glanced at Tamahome and raised one eyebrow, but said nothing. 

"You don't have all the time in the world, so I suggest you set out as soon as you can." Taiitsukun said and disappeared. 

"So we were right! They are Suzaku no Mi and Suzaku no Mune!" Chiriko said. 

"If you must journey to Sairo, then I can't come with you." Hotohori said regretfully, "It would probably be inadvisable for me to enter another country unannounced, even if we aren't at war, and if time is as precious as Taiitsukun implied, we certainly don't have the time to organize a formal visit." 

Chichiri had helped Elwing to her feet, and they were hugging. 

Hotohori cleared his throat politically to remind them the others were there, and they separated, but not very far. 

"That was the 'Truth' wasn't it?" Chiriko asked, "You acknowledged your feelings for each other." 

"How perceptive." Elwing said quietly and smiled.

"You should do that more often." Nuriko said. 

"Do what?" she asked, confused. 

"Smile.  When you do, you're beautiful!" 

Elwing's ears burned and she stared intently at her shoes. "If you say so." she whispered uncertainly. 

Chichiri cupped her chin in his hand and tilted her head until she was looking at him.  "You said you were willing to believe me, you should believe Nuriko as well, no da. After all, he agrees with me on this, no da." Chichiri told her softly. 

Elwing took a deep breath and looked over at Nuriko. "Thank you for the compliment." she said with more conviction. 

"See, I told you it wasn't so hard to believe us, no da." Chichiri smiled and patted her on the shoulder. 

Iris, who had been watching all this, finally decided she couldn't take it any more.  Elwing, who just two days ago had been bemoaning the impossibility of her position, was now in perfect happiness, while her own situation with Tasuki had only deteriorated.  She knew she had to get out of there before she cried in front of everyone.  Turning on her heel, she walked quickly off to her bedroom. 

"Iris!  Oy, Iris, where are you going?" Tasuki shouted and started after her. 

Tamahome stopped him. 

"What the Hell do you think you're doing, Obake-chan?" Tasuki protested. 

"I don't think she wants to see you right now." Tamahome told him, "I'll go talk to her.  Maybe I can help her feel better." 

"Fine.  Do whatever the Hell you want, I don't give a damn!" Tasuki shouted and stormed off. 

"I'd better follow him and make sure he doesn't burn down the gardens." Nuriko said to Hotohori. 

"I would appreciate that." Hotohori agreed. 

Elwing went up to Tamahome as he was leaving. "Thanks for going to her." she said, "I'd go myself, but somehow I think I might not be the best person for her to see at the moment." she admitted wryly. 

Tamahome could hear muffled sobs coming from within Iris's room, so he knocked on the door. 

"Go away, Elwing." Iris said, "No offense, but you'll only make me feel worse." 

"It's not Elwing, it's Tamahome.  I want to talk to you about something, may I come in?" he asked. 

"Sure." Iris sighed, "By all means, do come in." 

Tamahome walked in and closed the door behind him.  Iris was sitting up on the bed with her eyes red-rimmed from crying. "I'm all right now, really." she insisted, "I can take this.  At least... " she sniffed, "at least I can remember a time when he didn't hate me." She burst into tears again.

Tamahome sat awkwardly on the bed and patted her heaving shoulders. "It's not as bad as you think." he said. 

"How can you say that?" she wailed, "He can barely stand to touch me!  He certainly made it clear he doesn't want to be my protector.  How could it get any worse?" 

"Is that what you think?  That he hates you?" Tamahome asked kindly, "That certainly wasn't the impression I got." 

Iris looked up at him, surprise in her glimmering, tear-reddened eyes. "What impression did you get?" she asked, a faint trace of hope in her voice. 

"If you had seen his face when her realized that what he said had upset you, you wouldn't have any doubt that he cares a whole lot about you.  When he heard you trying not to cry, he looked horrified.  As for your claim that he can barely stand to touch you, that's ridiculous. He was shaking like a leaf when he reached out to you." 

"So he's scared of me? That's not much better, you know." 

"No, no, you don't understand.  I meant that he was nervous, not scared.  They're two very different things, you know." 

"Nervous?" 

"Yeah.  He reminded me of me.  You know that I married Suzaku no Miko?" 

"Yes, you have mentioned that a few times." Iris said, half smiling. 

"Well, before she got sick and Nuriko, Hotohori and I had to send her home, she told me she was in love with me, and I told her I didn't return her feelings.  I was in love with her at her time, only I hadn't really sorted out my feelings enough to realize that yet, and so I hurt her to cover my own confusion.  It wasn't until she was gone that I realized the true extent of my feelings toward her." Tamahome explained. 

Iris sniffed, then giggled. "Nuriko told me about that.  He says you were so distracted you tried to eat plates on a regular basis." she smiled, "Do you really think that's why Tasuki's being so cold to me?" 

"I really think so." 

"Thanks.  I think I'll just sit here for a while and think about that." 

Tamahome patted her shoulder and left. 

Outside in the gardens, Nuriko was trailing Tasuki.  Even as strong as he was, Nuriko knew better than to bother Tasuki when he was in a foul mood, which he quite clearly was. 

"Damn stupid, cunnin' women!" Tasuki raged, "And that fuckin' idiot Obake-chan wouldn't even let me go figure out what was buggin' her!"  He stomped through the garden paths and pummeled the trees, trying to vent his emotions.  Finally, he spotted what seemed to him to be a particularly offensive bench (actually, it was the same one Iris had been stargazing from the night before). "Lekka Shin'en!" he cried, and swept the Tessen down, sending an arc of fire to incinerate the offending piece of lawn furniture. 

At this point, Nuriko stepped in. "Hotohori asked me to tell you to please not incinerate the entire garden." he said kindly. 

"Fuck it, go away, gay-boy." Tasuki fumed.  

Nuriko spun him around by one shoulder. "Don't call me that!  I told you, I'm not gay!  I never really was!" he objected, "And I'm not going to go away.  You and I need to talk.  You're really hurting Iris, you know.  And don't try to claim you don't care about her, because I know you do."

"What does it fuckin' matter how I feel, you obviously like her, why don't you take her off my hands?" Tasuki seethed. 

"You have nothing to be jealous of me for, I look on her as a younger sister, nothing more.  Besides, it wouldn't matter how I felt, I couldn't 'take her off your hands' you nit, she's in love with you!" 

"What the Hell do you mean?" Tasuki asked, looking a little scared, 

"You're crazy.  She only fuckin' hangs around with me so much because she has nothing else to do and I'm the most fun, she fuckin' told me that herself." 

"Then why did she almost start crying today when you questioned your role as her protector?" Nuriko asked. 

"I…I don't know.  That's why I wanted to go talk to her, but fuckin' Tamahome wouldn't let me." Tasuki said, a little bewildered. 

"C'mon, it's time for lunch." Nuriko told the younger seishi kindly. 

" 'They headed back to the palace, Tasuki still grumbling, but calmer for having vented his feelings, confused as they were.' " Pithya read. "Goddess that Tasuki's dumb." she complained. 

"Well, he certainly seems to be, from what you say." Catherine agreed, "I just learned something interesting, by the way.  If this _is_ real, then there might be a way for us to contact Elwing, at least." 

"Really!  How?" 

"Well, in episode seven, this 'Taiitsukun' character says that Miaka and Yui are connected by their identical school uniforms, so maybe if we could find something here which is duplicated in the book, we could speak to her." Catherine suggested.

"That's an idea!  We should look for something like that.  Plus, it's time to break and eat some dinner." 

"Mmmm… Food is good!" 

They went into the tiny kitchen to microwave some leftovers and discuss possible connections they might find in the apartment. 

"So, you're my protector, eh?" Elwing said to Chichiri as they walked through the gardens hand in hand. 

"I would have taken that role even if I hadn't been told to, no da." he assured her, "Tasuki seemed somewhat more reluctant about his own role, though, no da."

"He's positively seething with uncertainty.  I didn't even have to try to pick it up." she confirmed. 

"Tasuki feels more than he would care to admit about those he counts as friends, and feels even stronger about those he feels he must protect, no da." Chichiri explained, "He almost got killed trying to defend Miaka from Tamahome when he was under the influence of Kodoku, and he wasn't even in love with her, no da.  He obviously is falling in love with Iris, but this _is_ Tasuki we're talking about. I wonder what it will take for him to admit even to himself how he feels, no da." 

"Well, whatever it is, for both their sakes I hope it comes soon." Elwing said and leaned against Chichiri, who put his arm around her. 

"The rewards are probably greater than he realizes. I know they certainly were for me, no da" Chichiri said, then took off his mask to kiss her gently below the trailing boughs of a weeping willow.  

So!  Everybody enjoy?  Looking forward to the next chapter?  I promise Tasuki will start to clue in about what's going on…eventually!  Till then we'll all just have to yell at him!  Yay! Fun! ::giggles:: Well, that's all for now, I'll see you all next week!

The crazy kitsune of LOVE!


	9. Chapter 08: The Quest

Hey!  It's me!  I was determined I was going to get this out before midnight on Tuesday and try to keep to my schedule…a whole week late, but…

What can I say, Real Life jumped up and bit me in the but, in the form of my Grandmother moving three provinces away and coming home to a burst hot water tank, then working like a mad thing to build a cat room for my girl kitten Subaru who will be six months old in three weeks and could go into her first heat anytime after that.  Don't want to be an irresponsible mommy and have her having babies too soon!  Anyway, you don't want to read the trials of my life, you want to read the story!  So here you are!

Chapter 8:

 The Quest

Preparations for the journey to Sairo-koku were undertaken quickly, and by the next morning they were ready to set out.  A large party was gathered to see the six seishi, Suzaku no Mi, and Suzaku no Mune off.  Many of the imperial advisors were there, as well as Hotohori, Houki, and Boushin. 

"This scene seems somehow too familiar to me," Hotohori said, "please take care of yourselves, and we will pray for your safe and swift return." 

Houki came forward and pressed packages into Elwing and Iris's hands. "Don't open them until you're alone," she cautioned them conspiratorially, "I also will pray for your safety and happiness."

"Thank you." They said in unison, then looked at each other and laughed. 

"We're doing it again!" Elwing said triumphantly. 

Boushin tugged at her jeans. 'Hey! Pay attention to me!' he reminded her. 

She picked him up and gave him a hug. "I'll be back soon, little prince, don't worry." she said out loud. In her mind she added, 'You mind your Mommy and Papa 'til then, eh?  And would you give Iris a big hug, she's been feeling a little sad lately.'

'Okay.' Boushin held out his arms to Iris, and, when she took him from Elwing, wrapped his little arms around her neck. 

She hugged him back and kissed his cheek. "I know, I'll miss you too," Iris reassured him. 

Elwing happened to glance over at Tasuki during this and managed to catch a fleeting glimpse of raw longing flash across his face before it was buried again. 

They mounted up, and Tamahome led the convoy out the western gate of the palace and through the streets of Eiyo. 

Once they were past the gates of the city, Elwing and Iris threw back the hoods on their traveling cloaks and grinned at each other. 

"On the road again!" Elwing sang, and Iris gave her a withering look. "What?  It's true!" Elwing said innocently, but she shut up anyway. Iris's mood, which presently seemed to be good, could probably turn sad again with very little warning, so it was best not to test her. 

Chichiri reigned in slightly until he was riding alongside Nuriko, who was presently acting as rearguard. "So, I was wondering something, no da." 

"Yes, what was that?"

"What's it like to be dead, no da?" 

Nuriko seemed startled by the question, but then he thought about it. "Do you know, I can't really remember anymore.  It's like trying to remember a dream, you know?  Some of the scenes are as clear as crystal, but the rest of it… " he trailed off, "Just thinking about it is giving me a headache." 

"That makes sense, no da.  If you could remember, it would probably make you not concerned enough about dieing again, and you might not take enough care of yourself. It's an interesting situation, na no da." Chichiri mused. 

"The only thing I am sure of is that I don't want to go back there any time soon." 

"Well, we don't want you to either, no da." Chichiri assured him. 

Iris, riding near the middle of the group, found herself glancing over at Tasuki when he wasn't looking and pondering over what Tamahome had told her the day before. 'Could it be that he actually does like me?' she thought, 'I'd like to believe that, but somehow I just can't see it.' She looked over at Tasuki, trying to memorize the little things, like the way he every so often had to brush his hair out of his eyes, or the way he shifted his shoulders to settle the Tessen more comfortably.  He frowned and looked over at her, and she looked away quickly. 'When Tamahome first met Miaka, he said, he was protective even though it went against his nature to do so without being paid for it.  He told me he saw similarities to the way Tasuki is now, but what are they?  I wish I could see these things that Tamahome and Nuriko seem to see. Maybe they're just trying to encourage me not to give up, I don't know.' she mused sadly. 

Meanwhile, Tasuki's thoughts were no less confused. 'Nuriko can't have known what he was talking about when he said Iris was in love with me… can he?'  He felt eyes burning into him and looked around frowning, but he couldn't catch anyone looking at him.  He gazed at Iris for a minute, turning the question over in his head.  As he watched her, Tasuki couldn't help noticing the way the sun caught the deep reddish-violet highlights in her hair, and he swore silently to himself.  'Dammit, how the Hell am I supposed to figure out Iris's feelings if I can't even unravel the knots in my own heart?  Every time I look at her lately it stirs these damned weird and confusing feelings.  I wish sometimes that she had never shown up, but… that thought hurts somehow.  Almost as much as the thought that she might be in love with Nuriko…  Dammit, where did that come from?!  If she loves Nuriko I should be happy for both of them, they seem to get along so well.' Tasuki felt sharp knife twist in his heart at this last thought.  'Shit!'  he thought, 'I thought I knew every way a woman could hurt me, but I seem to have discovered another one.' 

By the time they reached the first of the "post inns" which were planted along the highway in one day's riding intervals, everyone was tired. Elwing and Iris, despite all the riding that they had been doing in the last two weeks, were beginning to feel very stiff.  They pulled their horses to a halt inside the inn's dooryard and the two girls waited, concealed in their cloaks, until the seishi had arranged for their night's lodging.  Leaving Chiriko and Mitsukake to hold the horses; Tamahome, Nuriko, Chichiri, and Tasuki went over and rang the gong to call the innkeeper.  When the man arrived, half at a run out of the inn and saw the size of their party, he began to wring his hands in distress. 

"Honoured sirs… " he panted, "Honoured sirs, I regret to inform you that I have only four rooms left.  Although I can stable all your horses, this close to Eiyo there is always an abundance of traffic, and I fear a large merchant deputation arrived earlier today on their way to trade woolens from Hokkan-koku, and they have filled all but four of our rooms." 

Tasuki glared at the frightened, roly-poly man.  Nuriko, seeing the fire in Tasuki's eyes and fearful that due to his obvious frustration in dealing with his feelings, it might translate into real fire at any minute, laid a comradely hand on Tasuki's shoulder. 

"We can understand your dilemma, good sir, but you must see ours.  If it were only us, we would have little difficulty sharing rooms.  We are comrades in arms, and have spent many nights in places where there was only one room and all had to share the floor; or even camped around a fire at night, but we have women with us.  Surely you must see that their comfort is our only concern?" Nuriko smoothtalked the innkeeper. 

"Well, I do indeed see your dilemma more clearly now," the innkeeper allowed, "let me reassure you that the four rooms I mentioned are the best at my inn, and the women will not suffer for comfort.  Also, for only a small extra charge, I will supply you with four extra futons." 

The seishi backed off to discuss it among themselves. 

"We really have no other choice, no da. There are no other inns anywhere closer than a two hours ride at the pace we're keeping, and if Elwing and Iris have to sleep on the ground, they probably won't be able to move at all tomorrow, na no da." Chichiri pointed out. 

Tamahome looked back at the girls sitting rather stiffly in their saddles and nodded in agreement. "You're probably right.  We can always draw straws to see who sleeps where." 

They turned back to the innkeeper. 

"We've agreed. We'll take your offer of the four rooms and four extra futons.  We also want tubs of hot water for bathing." Nuriko specified. 

"Alright then, I'll prepare the rooms and send a boy out to stable your horses and another to carry your bags." 

The four seishi returned to where Mitsukake and Chiriko were holding the horses, and Elwing and Iris were still mounted on theirs. 

They explained the situation about the rooms, and Elwing and Iris shot a vaguely ironic look at each other. 

When they got to the bit about the hot water, both girls let out a weak cheer. 

"I'm sure I've never been so stiff in my whole life!" Elwing groaned, "I think I've forgotten how to get off this thing!" In agonizingly slow motion she swung herself around in the saddle and slipped down to the ground, where her knees buckled and she would have fallen had Chichiri not caught her. 

"I thought this might happen, no da." He smiled gently at her, "Your legs aren't used to being wrapped around a horse all day, they need some time to rest, no da."

Nuriko walked over to Iris's horse. "Do you need a hand?" he asked her.

"I'll do that," Tasuki growled at him, "it's supposed to be my job, right?" 

Tasuki reached up and caught Iris as she dismounted, holding her steady until she got her weak but still semi-functional legs under her. 

"Thanks." Iris smiled. 

"Hey, I'm just doin' my job." Tasuki half-smiled back, but refused to meet her eyes. 

"What are we doing about sleeping arrangements?" Chiriko asked. 

"I thought we could draw straws." Tamahome suggested. 

"You're welcome to share my room if you want." Elwing hesitantly offered to Chichiri. 

"Daaa!" he said, a little surprised at her boldness, then he grinned, "I would be honoured to guard you all night, no da." he said and kissed her forehead. 

"Any other volunteers?" Nuriko asked, looking around. 

No one said anything.  Although Iris was looking almost pleadingly at Tasuki, he was looking the other way and didn't notice. 'At least,' she thought to herself, 'he still has one arm around me for support. Probably only because he forgot to let go, though.' 

Tamahome rummaged around in his saddlebags until he came up with a handful of Mah Jong tally sticks. Picking three matching pairs, he put the rest of them away, then held the remaining six in his hand. 

"Everybody pick one, and whoever gets the same number of dots has to share a room." 

They all reached out and plucked the long slivers of marked ivory from Tamahome's hand, leaving him only one.  While this was going on, Elwing noticed a tingling sensation on the back of her neck, and realized that Chichiri was casting a spell.

"What did you do?" she whispered in his ear. 

"I made sure Iris and Tasuki spend the night together, no da." Chichiri whispered back. 

The other six looked at their tally sticks.  Mitsukake and Chiriko both had ones, Tamahome and Nuriko had sixes, and Tasuki and Iris had twelves. 

"Well, it seems the fates were kind to you, Tasuki, no da." Chichiri grinned. 

"If you say so," Tasuki said sounding honestly puzzled. 'Why does the thought of being able to watch over Iris all night while she sleeps feel so good?' he wondered. 

Nuriko patted his shoulder. "See, now you have nothing to be jealous about." He reassured Tasuki. 

"Who the Hell said I was jealous?! I'm not fuckin' jealous!" 

Iris was too exhausted to connect this with Tamahome's very similar statement, and Nuriko's, all she could think was that at least Tasuki would be spending the night with her. 

The innkeeper's two young sons came out to take their horses away and show them to their rooms. Because they were traveling incognito, Nuriko didn't want to make a scene by carrying in all the baggage, so they all carried their own things (except for Chichiri and Elwing, since he was carrying her). The rooms they were led to were hidden away at the back of the inn and were all in a block, two on either side.  Chichiri carried Elwing into one of the two which were at the very end of the hall, and Tasuki helped Iris into the room right across from them.  Nuriko and Tamahome chose the room next to Tasuki and Iris, so Chiriko and Mitsukake carried their things into the last room. 

Tubs were brought into the rooms and filled with hot water, one in each of the girls' rooms, and three in each of the other two rooms, with screens to separate them, and then the servants departed. 

"Will you be alright, no da?" Chichiri asked Elwing, who was sitting with her legs stretched out on the bed trying to massage the life back into them. 

"I think I can make it as far as the tub, and the hot water should help my legs.  If I have any problems, I'll call Iris." Elwing said. 

"I'll see you at dinner then, no da." Chichiri bent to brush his lips across her forehead, then left her to her privacy. 

Although it was difficult, Elwing forced her sore, tired legs to carry her to the tub, which beckoned so invitingly from the middle of her floor. 

As soon as Tasuki left their room, Iris got into her tub.  She wanted as much time to soak as she could possibly get before dinner.  Even if she wasn't sure how he felt about her, she was determined that if she was going to be in close quarters with Tasuki, she should try to make a good impression on him.  

She had no idea how good an impression she was about to make. 

Tasuki strolled back down the corridor, having forgotten, in his previous haste, that one of their bags had been left in the stables.  He was carrying it over one shoulder as he opened the door to his and Iris's room.  

When Iris heard the door creak open, she quickly curled her knees up against her chest, sloshing water onto the floor, and shouted, "Hey! What the Hell do you think you're doing?!"

Tasuki quickly shut the door and leaned against it. "Sorry! I didn't think you were in the tub yet!" he called through the door, willing his madly beating heart to slow. 

Mitsukake peeked his head out from across the hall. "Is anything wrong?" he asked. 

"N… nothing." Tasuki stammered, blushing bright red. 

Mitsukake chuckled and closed the door again. 

"Dammit!" Tasuki swore, "I hate women!" but he wasn't able to put his usual conviction into the statement, and the whole time he was bathing, he couldn't seem to get that one, brief glimpse of translucent skin out of his head. 

Once Iris felt she had soaked long enough, she toweled herself off, put on a robe and grabbed her package from Houki, and stealthily crept across the hall. 

"Come on in Iris." Elwing called before she had a chance to knock. 

"How did you know it was me?" Iris asked as she slipped in the door, "Come to think of it, how did you even know I was there?  I thought I was walking pretty quietly." 

"I figured out that if I loosely hold onto my power, I can tell who's outside my door." Elwing explained. She was lying on her bed wrapped in a robe. "I was just about to call you, actually.  My legs are still so stiff I can hardly move them, and I was hoping maybe you could… " 

"Use magick on them? Sure!" Iris agreed.  Kneeling beside Elwing's bed, she drew a circle, then called turquoise light between her hands and sent it into her coven sister's aching legs, pulling out the blackish-red energy of the stiffness and pain and grounding it. 

"Thanks so much." Elwing said as Iris broke the circle and she flexed her legs once more. 

"It'll get better as you get used to long days of riding." Iris assured her.

"Let's see what Houki gave us." Elwing suggested. 

"Good idea, I love surprises!"

They both took their packages and undid the cord binding them closed.  Inside each one were bolts of silk which, when unrolled, turned out in fact, to be dresses in the style which was common in Konan.  Elwing's varied from forest green to the lightest sunshine yellow and Iris's from blood red crimson to sunset orange. 

"Oh, gorgeous!" Elwing breathed. 

"But how do they go on?" Iris asked. 

By trying to remember those dresses they had seen, the two girls managed to figure out which were the underthings and had donned them and were puzzling over the outer robes when Elwing felt a presence outside the door and grinned. 

"I think I might have a solution to our confusion," she said to Iris as they heard a knocking. 

"Are you ready for dinner?" Nuriko asked. 

"Um, not quite," Elwing said, "do you think you could come in and give us a hand?" 

"Are you crazy?" Iris grated under her breath. 

"Think about it," Elwing whispered back, "he used to dress as a woman." 

Iris's eyes brightened. "Do come in, Nuriko." she invited. 

Nuriko slipped through the door and immediately saw their dilemma.  "I think I can help you," he laughed. 

"Awesome!"  Elwing cheered. 

Nuriko quickly helped them into their accoutrements.  "Looks great, but we really need to do something with your hair." he mused. 

In among the wrappings there were ribbons and hairsticks, and Nuriko was more than pleased to put their hair up.  He decided as he was running Iris's hair through his fingers that he would play a little trick on the others. Iris looked enough like Miaka that Nuriko figured if he did her hair in Miaka's familiar buns, he might just fool the others, at least for a short time.  Once he had fixed Iris's hair, he did Elwing's hair up into a complicated double bun on top of her head, trailing a thin braid down over each shoulder. 

"Perfect!" he exalted, "C'mon, let's go eat." 

Nuriko preceded the two women down the stairs and sat himself at the table. 

"Are they ready, no da?" Chichiri asked. 

Nuriko giggled. "Here they come!" he smiled as Elwing and Iris descended the stairs. 

"M… M… Miaka?" Tamahome stuttered against the sudden silence.

"No ahou, it's Iris." Tasuki corrected him after only a brief moment of confusion. 

"Daaa!" Chichiri said and walked over to escort Elwing to the table, "You look beautiful, no da!" 

"So, you can look like a woman." Tasuki said to Iris, an odd note in his voice. 

"What's that supposed to mean?" Iris growled. 

"N… nothin'." he stammered, and they sat down to eat. 

The girls were both yawning by the end of the meal, so Mitsukake suggested they go to bed while the seishi made plans for the quest into Sairo-koku. 

When Tasuki trundled up the stairs to go to bed about half an hour later, he was somewhat apprehensive.  This time, he knocked on the door first, but there was no answer, so he let himself in.  Iris had laid her beautiful dress across a chair and gone to bed, and for a moment Tasuki couldn't believe she was actually asleep, since she was lying half-off the bed and upside down.  He felt another of those pangs in his heart as he looked at her and, hoping she was a heavy sleeper, Tasuki carefully and gently lifted Iris back onto the bed and brushed a tiny strand of hair away from her cheek.  In her sleep, Iris instinctively reacted to this by grabbing his hand between hers and clasping it to her.  Images flashed through Tasuki's head:  Her arrival, his fear when she was sick, helping her learn to saddle and take care of her horse, the stifled sob from the day before that had made him think his heart might break...  

He swore internally.  'Dammit, I think I'm in love with her!' he thought to himself, utterly stunned.  

Gently he pulled his hand loose from hers and tucked the covers around her and readied himself for bed, shucking jacket, boots and tunic, then sat down on his pallet against the wall and continued to stare at her, puzzling through his feelings. 

Across the hall, Chichiri was about to knock on the door of his and Elwing's room when she softly told him to come in. 

"Aren't you asleep yet, no da?" he asked, "I thought you would be so tired from all the riding that you'd be asleep as soon as you hit the pillow, no da." 

Elwing laughed ruefully. "I wish I could do that. It usually takes me about an hour or two to get to sleep." 

Chichiri got ready for bed, unwrapping his kesa and bundling it by his pillow, then slipping his shoes and tunic off as well, and laying his mask down on the kesa. He went and kneeled by Elwing's bed and began rubbing her back. 

"I think I understand now why you're always so reluctant to get up in the mornings. Would it help if I held you until you fell asleep, no da?" 

"It might." Elwing smiled, wondering if this was some kind of incredible waking dream. 

Chichiri pulled back the coverlet, although not the sheet, and slipped into the bed, wrapping his arms around Elwing, who spooned herself against him, pinning the sheet between them, and sighed. 

"Good night, no da." he whispered to her and kissed the pulse of her neck as he whispered a soft spell of sleeping. 

"'Night." she said as her eyes closed.

He had intended to hold her for only a few minutes, reveling in the freedom she allowed him, then to go back to his own bed, but Chichiri was also very tired, and he fell asleep soon after Elwing did, with her head snuggled under his chin. 

Tasuki had fallen asleep sitting against the wall, and when Iris woke up, sometime after midnight, she could see him bathed in the moonlight which was shining in through the window. 'He looks cold,' she thought and quietly snuck out of bed. Finding that he was sitting firmly on his own blanket, she got the one off the foot of her bed and wrapped it around him, glorying in the brief touches of his smooth skin against her hands.  She took one last look, then went back to sleep, and continued the scene in her dreams. 

As was usual for her, Elwing half-woke around dawn, and rolled over to go back to sleep, only semi-aware that she was still sharing the bed. 'Mmm… lovely dream.' she thought to herself as she pillowed her head on Chichiri's shoulder and went back to sleep. 

The first thing Iris saw when she opened her eyes in the morning was Tasuki, still sitting against the wall, wrapped in the blanket.  She smiled happily. 'Oh, he's so cute!  So it wasn't a dream… at least, not all of it.' she thought to herself.  She slipped quietly out of bed and tiptoed across the floor to kneel in front of him. 'Why can't you love me?' she asked in her head as she examined the perfection of her sleeping guardian, 'I love you, why can't you return my feelings?'  As if in response to this last thought, Tasuki sighed and opened his eyes.   

"Good morning." Iris said, "Isn't it a bit uncomfortable to sleep sitting up?" 

"About the same as sleeping upside-down," Tasuki said as he grabbed his tunic and put it back on.  "I'll go see if they can start makin' us some breakfast while you change.  You should wear that pretty dress again sometime," he added as an afterthought. 

"Not during the day, with all that road dust!" Iris objected, but she blushed. 

"Whatever." Tasuki said as he left the room, with only one thing nagging at him: where had that blanket come from anyway? 

A couple of hours after dawn, Chichiri woke up and realized where he was.  Elwing's soft breathing was almost ticklish as it ruffled the tassels on his prayer beads, so with a wicked little grin he decided to return the favour.  He caught up a lock of her hair and flicked it across her face and down to brush about her collarbones.  Elwing reached out with her hand to stop the tickling, catching Chichiri's hand in hers.  Slowly Elwing's eyes fluttered open. 

"I thought it was a dream!" she said, surprised but happy as she sat up and stretched. 

"Good morning, no da." Chichiri said, also sitting up, "I didn't realize how tired I was last night, I hope you don't mind, no da." 

"Mind?  You've got to be kidding! I can think of no sight I'd rather see first thing in the morning than your face near to mine."  Elwing said and kissed him. 

"I'll go get breakfast while you change, no da." He said, running his fingers through her sleep-tousled hair. 

" 'It took them the whole rest of a week to reach the Sairo border, and by that time Elwing and Iris, although still not entirely comfortable on horseback, were much more competent riders.' " Pithya read,   "Boy, Elwing's been busy!" she grinned, then continued, " 'The Suzaku seishi Tasuki kept his desperate secret hidden, even from his fellow shichiseishi.' " Pithya sighed. "Poor Iris.  That Tasuki doesn't seem worth it.  Why doesn't she go for Nuriko?  He seems much cooler." 

Suddenly Catherine let out a cry. "Oh, so that's him!" she exclaimed. 

"What's who?" Pithya asked. 

"Chichiri!  He's introduced in episode nine, see!" 

"Cool! I want to see this episode, K?" Pithya requested. 

Catherine obligingly rewound a short way back to the beginning of the episode, and they both watched as Chichiri was introduced. 

"Well, okay, I think I can see now part of why Elwing sees in him," Pithya allowed, "he certainly seems both powerful and wise, but also funny.  In a way, he does kinda remind me of Elwing a bit." 

She picked up the book and resumed reading.  

And off they go hippity-hop down the trail to Sairou!  And Tasuki's FINALLY clued in!  Hasn't done anything about things, but it's only a matter of time now!

And for those of you (OtakuPitcher) who were wondering, Chapters are written up to half of 15 and need some editing before they are post-worthy, but I'm working on it, although I haven't had much time lately to write much.

Back on track for next week!  Chapter Nine in all its glory!  One crazy kitsune girl signing out!


	10. Chapter 09: Byakko's Country

And we're back on schedule! Yay!  Only a couple of weeks until the previously unreleased stuff (also known as Chapter 12 and onward) starts coming out, and I'm nervously anticipating everyone's reaction.  This week we're in Sairo, as you might have guessed from the chapter title, so I'm dedicating this chapter to my little Subaru kitten, who will soon be six months and going into heat for the first time.  Already watching the little dear like a hawk, since I do NOT want things happening before they ought ^_~  Also, work has picked up, which is always a good source of inspiration for me when writing…it's when work is slow and I have lots of free time that I don't seem to be able to write much, weird, ne?  In any case, I'll stop rambling and let you get to enjoying the story!

Chapter 9: 

Byakko's Country

When they were across the boarder into Sairo-koku, the seishi immediately headed for the capital city.  They had decided that the best way to find information on the Crystal of Clear Sight would be to visit with the two remaining Byakko no shichiseishi.  They might remember old stories or myths which could lead the Suzaku seishi to it.  It took four nights of riding across the desert to reach the city, and by the time they arrived at Subaru and Tokaki's estate, the sun was already setting on the fifth. 

As they rode up to the gate, Tokaki dropped out of one of the trees, his nimble carriage belying his hundred-plus years. 

"Who are you?" he asked challengingly. 

"Don't you recognize us?" Tamahome asked, surprised, "It's me, Master, Tamahome, and the rest of the Suzaku seishi with me!" 

"Well, I don't recognize any of the three women ... "

"Three women?" Nuriko objected, "I'm not a woman!" 

"That's Nuriko." Tamahome introduced him. 

"But Nuriko was dead when you and Suzaku no Miko came to us!  And Chiriko, the brave child who died so horribly during our battle, you don't mean to tell me this is him!" Tokaki objected, gesturing at Chiriko.  "Come to think of it, Chichiri visited us two years ago in his wanderings and told us that all but he and Tasuki had died during the war against Kutou, so what are you doing here alive?" 

"Did the news not reach you then?"

"What news?"

"All of Suzaku's seishi were revived. The only reason Hotohori's not here is because of the diplomatic difficulties it would have caused.  I knew they were keeping all this pretty quiet, but I had no idea..." 

"We had heard rumors," Subaru said, walking up the path toward them, "but we could scarcely credit them, they were so incredible!" 

"If neither of the young women are seishi or Suzaku no Miko, then who are they?" Tokaki asked. 

"They are the prophetrixes Suzaku no Mi and Suzaku no Mune, and they are the reason we are back among the living." Chiriko explained. 

"Please, all of you come in." Subaru insisted, "Ignore my husband's rude behavior."  She glared at Tokaki and invited them to dismount and stable their horses. 

Over dinner, much discussion flew across the table over the Suzaku no Shichiseishi's reason for visiting. 

"I wonder..." Subaru mused, "There was an old legend of a crystal hidden in the catacombs under Byakko's tower. Do you think that might be this Crystal of Clear Sight you seek?" 

Everyone looked over at Iris as she suddenly tranced and her character blazed. 

"The labyrinth holds the crystal safe, but beware its dangerous grip." she intoned. 

Chichiri looked over at Elwing, whose character was also alight. "We'll find the crystal probably within the next two days, but there's a bad feeling associated with this.  Someone may get hurt.  Certainly the crystal is in those catacombs, though." she confirmed. 

As their characters faded, both Elwing and Iris looked rather pale. 

"Are you alright, no da?" Chichiri asked Elwing. 

Simultaneously, Tasuki asked Iris, "What's wrong?" 

"It seems to be harder to do this outside of Konan-koku." Iris explained. 

"I'll be fine in a minute." Elwing assured Chichiri, gently brushing his arm with her fingers. 

"Well, first thing tomorrow we'll take you to the catacombs, then." Tokaki told them. 

"We also have a legend of Byakko no Mi and Mune." Subaru said, "It's interesting to see the two of you at work." 

Chichiri shot an uneasy look at Elwing and Iris. "I think the two of you should get some sleep, no da." he suggested, "Tomorrow will be a long day, no da."

Elwing and Iris, who were fairly tired, agreed that this would be a good idea, so Subaru led them to a room where they could spend the night. 

After dinner, Tokaki took Tamahome aside.  "So, what ended up happening between you and Suzaku no Miko?  She's obviously not with you."

"No, she's in her world.  Somehow I know I'm with her, though.  We'll be together once all this is over, that I know for sure.  After all, we are married!" Tamahome grinned. 

Tokaki patted his shoulder.  "I admire your determination." he said. 

The next morning, the Tokaki and Subaru who came to wake them were much younger, apparently in their early twenties.  Elwing and Iris, of course, were rather confused, and Subaru explained that this was a part of her power, the ability to reverse or accelerate the effects of time on individuals. 

"No one's been near the tower since it was ruined, we may have some trouble getting access to the catacombs, and I'm not even sure what kind of condition they're in." Tokaki explained, "We should probably split off into groups in order to search more efficiently and spend as little time in there as possible."

The secret entrance to the tunnels was not as badly damaged as might have been anticipated, and they had little trouble gaining access.  Once they were inside, Tasuki lit the torches.  The light revealed that the tunnel split off in four different directions. 

"I guess this means we have to split into teams now."  Nuriko observed. 

"Elwing and I make one team, no da."

"And I think I'll go with Nuriko." Subaru decided. 

"I'll go with Mitsukake and Chiriko." Tokaki offered. 

"I guess that leaves me with you and Iris." Tamahome said to Tasuki. 

Tasuki heaved a sigh of resignation. "I suppose." he said. 

'He doesn't even want to go with me.' Iris thought.  Over the past week or so, she had noticed Tasuki even more reluctant to be near her, seemingly drawing away from any hint of intimacy of any kind, even just friendly banter.  Of course, his reasons for this were not the ones she supposed, but how was she to know that? 

Tasuki, meanwhile, was thinking, 'I wish she'd cheer up, I don't like to see her so sad.  I can't dare tell her how I feel, it would probably make her cry.  I'm not sure why I feel this way, but until I figure it out, I can't let anyone know.  Damn that stupid Obake-chan anyway!  It would have been nice to be alone with Iris for a while anyway, even if I'm not ready to say anything yet.' 

This was the first chance Elwing and Chichiri had had to be alone together since that first night at the inn, and they were reveling in it, even if it was in a dark tunnel under an ill-omened ruin. 

"You know, there used to be a legend that if a couple watched the sunset from this tower, they would be together forever, no da." Chichiri told Elwing. 

"Really?" She vaguely remembered something like that, but she couldn't for the life of her figure out why it sounded familiar.  She decided it must just be one of those things that sounded like some kind of fairytale and brushed it from her mind.  "I wonder how long we'll be in here?"

They walked along in silence for a while, hand in hand, each lost in thoughts of what possible future they might have.  Finally Chichiri spoke up. 

"I didn't want to ask when there were others around, but what is your impression of Tasuki and Iris's present situation?  Even I can tell that something is really bothering Tasuki, no da." 

Elwing laughed ruefully. "He's royally confused is about all I can pick up off the surface. I'm pretty sure he's realized his feelings for Iris, but for some reason he won't let himself simply live those feelings."

"Yes, that sounds like Tasuki, no da. He'll eventually let it slip, though, we'll just have to give him time, no da." 

Subaru looked over at Nuriko, who was carrying their torch.  "I'm still finding this all a little unbelievable." she admitted. 

"That seems to be the usual response.  I must say I find it all a little unbelievable too." Nuriko agreed. 

"It makes me wonder what will happen when Byakko no Mi and Byakko no Mune arrive.  Will they perhaps resurrect the Byakko seishi as well, or will we be born into new bodies?  If we're born into new bodies, will we remember anything about this life?  But I suppose I won't know until the time comes, will I, so no use worrying about it."

Nuriko smiled.  "I certainly didn't know what to expect," he admitted, "but the only reassurance I have for you is that no God would deliberately harm his own chosen." 

"No, I suppose not." Subaru agreed. 

As they walked along, Tokaki kept throwing odd glances at Chiriko whenever he thought he wasn't looking.  

Finally he spoke up. "So, now that you have your life back, what are you going to do with it?" he asked. 

"Well, I still intend to take the civil service exams, and Hotohori kindly ordered that my previous rank be reinstated.  Aside from that, I really don't know.  Perhaps meet a girl I can spend the rest of my life with, who knows?" Chiriko answered, his blush hidden by the ruddy light of the torch. 

Mitsukake looked over at him with one raised eyebrow. "Did you have anyone in mind?" he asked his young friend. 

"Well, there's this girl I've noticed around the palace.  She's gorgeous, but she always seems to be hiding from everyone.  I'd like to get to know her." Chiriko smiled, half in daydream. 

He thought back to that day almost two weeks ago.  He had been in his room studying all morning, but he was getting hungry, so he decided to stretch his legs and get some air on his way to having lunch with the others.  He was walking with his gaze averted, his head still in his books, when he bumped into someone. 

"Oh!" she exclaimed, "I'm sorry, I didn't see you!  Please forgive me, sir, everyone always says I'm too clumsy to be any use. I'm so sorry." she said, and started to sniffle. 

Chiriko was slightly confused. He reached down to help her up, saying, "No, I should be the one to apologize.  I wasn't looking where I was going."  He looked down into her eyes and was startled to find they were silvery, even though her hair was a glossy purple-black.  "Wh...who are you?" he asked, his heart suddenly pounding. 

The girl looked frightened.  "My name's Tia," she whispered, "and I'm not supposed to be here.  Please don't tell on me.  I just wanted to see the Suzaku no shichiseishi Chiriko. They say he's been reborn, like my... the Emperor, that is."  She blushed and looked away as he did the same. 

"Why do you want to see him?" Chiriko asked. 

"Because...well..." she stammered. 

They both heard footsteps approaching from around a corner. "I have to go!" she whispered, and, pulling her hands out of his, she bolted down a side-corridor toward the women's quarters. 

He'd asked around a little, discreetly, but no one knew who she might be, and he didn't want to make trouble for her. 

Mitsukake and Tokaki shared a knowing glance as they looked at young Chiriko, lost in daydreams. They could both well remember that first flush of love, and how it would come to mind at the slightest provocation. 

Tasuki, Tamahome, and Iris walked along in silence. They were not so much lost in thought as unwilling to break the silence with uneasy words. 

Abruptly, Iris spoke. "I feel strange all of a sudden." she said, "I think..." 

The rest of her words were swallowed up in the rumbling growl of the cave collapsing on them. 

"Iris!" Tasuki cried as he pushed her out of the way of falling debris and covered her with his own body to protect her.  After a minute or so, the roaring stopped, and as the last few bits of stone clattered down, Tasuki rolled off Iris. "You okay? Not hurt anywhere, are you?" he asked, worry clearly evident in his voice. 

"No, I think I'm okay." she said a little shakily. 

"Oh, thank Suzaku." he breathed. 

"I can't see a thing, though." Iris pointed out, "What happened to the torch?" 

"I must've dropped it.  It's probably buried under half a ton of rock." Tasuki reached to his shoulder-sheath and realized the tessen wasn't there. "Fuckin' shit!" he swore and began groping around in the dark.  One hand came down on something soft. 

"HEY!" Iris shouted and batted his hand away, "Watch what you're doing!" 

"If I could fuckin' see, I would!" Tasuki growled back. 

"What are you doing anyway?" Iris asked. 

"Lookin' for my damn tessen so we can get some bloody _light_ in here." he explained. 

He continued to grope around, as did Iris.  As she trailed her hand along the floor, she felt something warmish and sticky.  She brought the hand up to her mouth, and with a touch of her tongue confirmed what it was. 

"Blood." she spat. "Tasuki, are you alright?  What about Tamahome?" 

"I think I'm fine, I don't think I'm bleedin'," Tasuki said, "but I don't know where Tamahome is.  That's why I need the tessen, we need light in here, dammit!" 

"What about your character?" Iris suggested. 

"You're a fuckin' genius!  Why didn't I think of that?" Tasuki exclaimed.  He rolled back his sleeve and concentrated his chi, bringing "Yoku" blazing to life. 

The scene revealed by the red glow was not a good one.  There was barely enough room for them to sit up, and the only thing which had saved their lives was that the ceiling in their section hadn't fallen in until the walls and ceilings on both sides had completely collapsed, so that the gigantic slab was half-supported by the rubble.  Tamahome was lying prone on the ground with an ugly-looking gash opening up his left arm.  The jagged piece of rock which had caused it was lying not five inches from Iris, and likely would have hit her had Tasuki not thrown her to the ground. 

"Oh Gods and Goddesses!" Iris exclaimed.  Quickly setting to work, she tore away the ruined left sleeve of Tamahome's jacket, then bound it tightly around his upper arm, holding the wound together and stopping the bleeding through application of pressure. 

"Dammit, how come he's out cold?" Tasuki asked. 

"I don't know." Iris admitted, feeling his head for cuts, "He probably got knocked out by some rock, but I don't think it's done any permanent damage." 

"No permanent damage?!  Suzaku's balls!  This shouldn't have happened at all!  I thought you could predict shit, how come you didn't predict this?!"

"I... I..." Iris's voice quivered as shock set in and adrenaline wore off, "I'm sorry!" she wailed brokenly, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry!"  She curled up and buried her face in her hands, body wracked with sobs. 

Tasuki thought his heart would break. 'Dammit, why can't I keep my fool mouth shut? I'm such an asshole!' he berated himself, 'I claim I love her, but I say horrible things to her to make her cry, when she could have been killed.  If she had died and I hadn't told her how I feel...' he didn't even want to think about it.  Resolved in his mind, he reached out and wrapped his arms around the distraught object of his affections. "Iris, it's okay, really it is." he consoled her, "I shouldn't've said that, it's just that I was scared.  If somethin' really bad'd happened..." his voice broke and he hugged her tighter, "Fuck it.  I just don't want anyone gettin' hurt..." 

And then, as Tasuki was just about to finally tell Iris how he felt, Tokaki popped in. 

"This must be the wrong tunnel." Elwing said to Chichiri, "It's getting smaller and smaller the further we go... Ughh..." she groaned as, at the same time Chichiri grimaced. 

"I sense an extremely evil ki, no da." he said. 

Elwing simply moaned. "An echo of malevolent anger." she said. 

Just as suddenly, the sensation was gone.  It was replaced, however, with the distant echo of rumbling and a deep sense of foreboding. 

"Who?" Elwing asked, head pounding and character blazing, "Someone's been hurt, but I can't tell who!" 

"I think it's Tamahome, no da." Chichiri said, "Iris and Tasuki may also be in danger, it might be best to gather the others together on our way, no da." 

Throwing the kasa up into the air, he transported them to where Tokaki, Mitsukake and Chiriko were. 

"What's wrong?" Mitsukake asked immediately upon seeing them, "Is Elwing ill?" 

"No, I'm fine. I'm just not used to kasa travel as yet is all, I'll be fine in a minute." 

"Something's happened to Tamahome's group, and we may need your skills Mitsukake, no da."

"Right." he nodded. 

Chichiri once again used the kasa to take the whole group of them to Nuriko and Subaru. 

"I heard a rumbling a minute ago, is someone trapped?" Nuriko asked. 

"We think Tamahome may be, no da." Chichiri explained. 

"What about the other two?" Subaru asked. 

"Of them we're not so sure.  They seem to be alright physically, though." Elwing said. 

"Is everyone ready, no da?" Chichiri asked. 

They all nodded. Chichiri threw the kasa up again and dropped them all in the empty corridor where Tasuki, Tamahome and Iris had been. 

The first thing they saw was a wall of shattered rock at one end of the tunnel, and the second was that lying half-buried under some debris was a glint of metal.  Chiriko leaned over to brush off the pebbles and lifted up Tasuki's tessen. 

"Well, I guess that means they're in there, all right." Nuriko said, "Are you sure they're even alive?" 

"I'm sure, no da. I can sense their ki, and besides, we would all have felt it if they had died, no da." Chichiri closed his eyes and took a deep breath.  "This isn't a natural collapse, no da.  I can sense traces of a trigger spell.  I don't want to go past until I know the source of it, no da."

"I'm not of Suzaku, so it shouldn't react to me, I'll let them know we're here." Tokaki offered and teleported into the collapsed tunnel. 

"Am I interrupting something Tasuki?" Tokaki asked as he looked around. 

"Suzaku's bloody flamin' balls, can't you warn people when you're gonna just appear?  Iris is upset enough already!" Tasuki growled at him. 

"My apologies for trying to help." Tokaki snapped back.  He looked around from his crouching position. "It's a miracle you didn't all get crushed." he marveled. 

"Can you get us out of here?" Iris asked. 

"Sorry, no; not til we know what triggered the collapse."

"What about Chichiri?  Can't he come in here and get us?" Tasuki asked. 

"He said something about this having been a trap and he's looking for the traces of the trigger spell he felt." 

"And I think the crystal is under some of the rubble." Iris said, "That's what I was about to say when the tunnel collapsed." 

Tokaki left to report all this and soon after, Chichiri arrived. 

"I can't transport you out, the spell was triggered by Iris's presence, but I can hold the ceiling up with a kekkai, no da." he explained, "Nuriko will have us out in no time, no da." He said as he cast a kekkai above and around them, ensuring that the roof of the tunnel wouldn't come down on them as soon as Iris stepped over the spell trigger again, or even from perfectly natural causes when Nuriko shifted the rocks supporting it. 

True to his word, only five minutes later, Nuriko managed to open enough of a space for them to walk through.  Iris closed her eyes and tried to sense the crystal the way she had earlier. 

"It's over there," she pointed as Mitsukake was busily healing Tamahome. 

Everyone but she, Chichiri and Nuriko backed down the corridor as Nuriko carefully pulled rocks off the area Iris had indicated. 

"There!" she crowed in excitement as a small grotto became visible, sunk just beneath the level of the floor. Reaching inside, she pulled out a long silver chain attached to a lens-like disc of chalcedony crystal. 

"That must be it!" Nuriko elated. 

"It is, it is indeed."  Iris confirmed, smiling beatifically. 

As she turned around to show the others, Tasuki sat down with a thump. 

"What's wrong?" she asked, quite concerned, "Are you sure you didn't get hurt?" 

"May I?" Elwing asked him.  He nodded, so she laid a hand on his shoulder and did a quick check-over of him.  "You'll be fine." she assured him and the others, "You just exhausted yourself."  Elwing smiled.  'So, you do know your feelings.' she thought to herself. 

"Now that we have the crystal, we should probably get out of here, no da." Chichiri said, sounding a little strained. 

Everyone took the hint and started heading back to the surface.  As soon as he was sure they were well out of range, Chichiri dropped the barrier and slipped into his kasa simultaneously, popping up behind Elwing and tapping her on the shoulder.  Of course, she jumped, and this played right into Chichiri's plan as he caught and steadied her. "Sorry, did I surprise you, no da?" he asked, grinning. 

"Oh, you." she growled playfully, "You just love startling people, don't you?" 

"Especially you, no da." he agreed

They all listened to the rumble as the tunnel where Tasuki, Tamahome, and Iris had been trapped finally collapsed completely, and shuddered at the thought that they might have still been in there. 

It took them much longer to walk out of the tunnel than it had to walk in, since Chichiri was scouting for more magical traps which might be triggered by their attempting to leave with the crystal.  By the time they finally made it to the tunnel entrance, the sun was just setting. 

Chichiri put his arm around Elwing and drew her close. "Isn't that a lovely shade of orange, no da?" he said appreciatively. 

Elwing put her arm about her love's waist and leaned against him. "It certainly is." she agreed.  She stole a quick glance and a light probe at Tasuki and knew that he also remembered what a sunset at this tower meant.  'Go to her.' she prompted him, sure that the sense of her message at least would get across, even if he didn't "hear" the message itself. 

Nervously, Tasuki came up beside Iris and laid his hand on her shoulder. 

"What?" Iris asked, surprised. 

"I feel just a little dizzy still." Tasuki lied. 

"Oh, that's fine then, feel free to lean on me." Iris said, a soft note of love in her voice which everyone but Tasuki seemed to clue in on. 

There were happy smiles all around as the sun sank behind the city surrounded by desert. 

'I have to tell her.' Tasuki thought, watching the clouds fade to purple, 'The next time I get a chance at her alone I swear I'll tell her.' He resolved, his heart swelling with love. 

They returned with the crystal to Subaru and Tokaki's estate and were greeted by a rather unexpected visitor. 

"Taiitsukun!" Subaru exclaimed with surprise. 

"I came to speak with the Suzaku no shichiseishi." she explained, as terse as ever. "You have to be back within the palace in two days time." she instructed them, "It's absolutely imperative." 

"Two days?!  But it took us almost two WEEKS to get here, how are we supposed to get back in two days?" Tamahome ranted, but Taiitsukun was gone. 

"Don't worry about it, no da." Chichiri reassured him, "I can get us there, no da." 

"In that case, why don't you stay the night again." Subaru offered, "There's no point in arriving late at night and grubby after spelunking all day." 

They accepted this offer gratefully, and baths and good food were provided for everyone. 

The next morning, they all gathered out on the lawn and the horses were blindfolded, then Chichiri threw his kasa up into the air and in a flash of red light the whole group was transported to the front gate of the palace in Eiyo. 

"Tell the Emperor we have returned, no da." Chichiri instructed the stunned guards. 

They hurried to open the gates and summon grooms for the horses while one guard ran to inform Hotohori.  It took only a couple of minutes for the imperial family, including Boushin, to arrive and welcome them home. When Boushin saw Elwing he came running up to her. 

'Elwing-obachan!' he greeted her, 'You're back!' 

She caught him up and hugged him. 'Of course,' she teased, 'Didn't I say I was coming back?'

"I'm so happy you returned safely!" Hotohori said, "I always worry when there's so little I can do to help." 

"Yes, we returned both safely and successfully; we have the Crystal of Clear Sight, no da." Chichiri told Hotohori.  "You probably shouldn't try to use the crystal until I've had a chance to make sure there aren't any magical traps in it, no da." Chichiri suggested to Iris. 

She nodded, looking a little subdued. "I suppose not." she agreed quietly. 

"Is something wrong?" Elwing asked.

"What?" Iris asked, looking up at her, "No, I was just thinking is all." She picked up her bags and headed off to her room. "I'm going to go unpack now." she grinned. 

"Do you...need a hand with all that?" Tasuki asked her hesitantly. 

"That would be nice." she said, blushing. 

He took her bedroll and slung it over his shoulder and they headed off to her room. 

'How come Iris-obachan is still sad?' Boushin asked. 

'Because of her long trip she's kinda tired, and some things scared her.' Elwing explained. 

"Things seem to be going better on that front." Hotohori observed as he watched the two of them walk off. 

"Better, but he still hasn't said anything, and neither as she." Nuriko said, sounding a little annoyed. 

"We should probably go unpack as well." Tamahome pointed out. 

"I'll see you all at lunch, then." Hotohori agreed, "You will have to tell me what happened on your quest."

"Umm...  Thanks." Iris said as Tasuki dropped the bedroll on her floor. 

"It was no problem." he said nonchalantly, trying to ignore the butterflies which seemed to want to fly out of his mouth in the place of words. 

"Well...umm...I'm gonna...unpack now, so..." Iris said hesitantly, looking at her bags. 

"Oh." Tasuki said, "I...  I guess I should go unpack now too." He hesitated at the door. "Iris?"

"Yes?" she looked up. 

"Uhh... nothing, I'll tell you later." he stammered, distracted by the gold colour of her eyes. 

"Oh...okay."

'I'll tell her after lunch...' Tasuki promised himself. 

"What was up with that?" Iris wondered as she pulled things out of her pack and put them in the wardrobe.  As she took her halter top out, a bit of straw fell out onto the floor. "Now where did that come from?" she laughed, "It's been a month since I fell into that haystack."  She put the hay in one of the honeycombs in the wardrobe. "A memento," she giggled.  As she continued to unpack, her hand fell on the Crystal of Clear Sight, and her mood darkened. 'Tasuki was right yesterday.' she thought to herself, 'I should have known the tunnel would collapse.'  She held the crystal in front of her and looked at it swinging back and forth on its chain. 'Taiitsukun said this was supposed to augment my powers.' she mused.  Sitting down on her bed, she held the crystal in both hands and looked deeply into it.

" 'Unbeknownst to the others, Suzaku no Mi was taking a dangerous step.' " Pithya read. "Oh, damn, no!  Iris, don't do it!" she shouted, "Didn't Chichiri warn you?!" 

"What's wrong?" Catherine asked. 

"Iris is so damn insistent on proving her worth to Tasuki that she's going to try to use the crystal, even though she's been told to wait until they've had it checked for traps." 

"Can't you do some kind of a summoning spell or something?" 

"You can't just summon people out of other dimensions without the proper spell elements, and it's not something I've ever tried before. If I got something wrong ... " 

"But can't you at least try? I know they'll probably have to return the way Miaka did, but at least we'd be able to talk to talk to them about all this.  I mean, what are we going to tell their parents?" 

"Especially Iris's." Pithya mused. 

And there you have it, Tasuki's still being a baka, Iris is contemplating bad things, and I've left you on a bit of a cliffie…kinda.  Not to worry, everything will be explained in next week's chapter, Chapter 10, otherwise known as the weird crossover chapter from HELL, and the reason for the fic's R rating…thought I'd warn you way in advance so you don't feel like it's all of a sudden way more gory than it was.  As far as graphically violent scenes, I ascribe to the practice of my favourite authors, David and Leigh Eddings, who every once in a while slip in a graphic scene of violence and gore to add depth and realism to the story where it is necessary.  Oh look, now I've scared off half my readers!  **watches as readers of delicate sensibilities run for the hills**  Don't worry, it's not that bad, and it's not all of the chapter, it's just one of those scenes that had to be written the way it is.

And on that note, I'll see you all again next week!  Amaya-chan signing off!


	11. Chapter 10: Trapped

Warning! Warning! It's chapter ten here at last!  Couple of things about this chapter.  First of all, it contains a short section of quite graphic – as in, clinically graphic – violence, and as such, finally brings this fic up to the R rating I gave it months ago.  Secondly it contains characters from some other anime and north American cartoon shows and as such requires an additional disclaimer.  None of the characters belong to me, they are all copyright to whoever owns them and I'm using them all without permission. I'll give them back in one piece, I promise!

Now, hope you all enjoy, please don't flame me about the violence, as it was necessary for plot advancement, and otherwise let me know what you think of my humble little offering!

Chapter 10: 

Trapped

Lunch was served and everyone except Iris was sitting waiting for her. 

"I can't believe she's late for lunch." Elwing said, "She never misses a meal.  Maybe she fell asleep." 

Tasuki stood up. "I'll go fetch her." he offered. 

"Sure, go ahead." Elwing shrugged, "And tell her she's gotta stop falling asleep on the job." 

'Well, it looks like I've got another opportunity.' Tasuki thought to himself as the butterflies started up again, 'I don't get this!  How can it be so damn hard to say three little words?'  He knocked on Iris's door, but there wasn't any response. "Iris!" he called as he opened the door, "It's time for lunch.  We're all waitin' for you." 

Iris was sitting cross-legged in the middle of her bed, facing away from the door. 

"Hey!  Why the Hell are you ignorin' me?" Tasuki objected, "Dammit, did you fall asleep sittin' up!?"  He walked over to Iris and looked her in the face.  Her eyes were open, but they looked dull and vacant, and their colour was a flat, muddy greenish-brown, without any of the bright hazel highlights which usually indicated her moods.  "Iris?" Tasuki said, concerned now as he shook her by the shoulders, "Dammit, snap out of it!" There was no response.  He looked down at her hands, and realized she was holding the Crystal of Clear Sight. "Oh, shit!" he swore, "Fuckin' headstrong woman!  Why the Hell couldn't you have waited until Chichiri checked that Seiryuu-damned thing for spells?" Tasuki desperately tried to pry Iris's fingers loose from the crystal.  When he couldn't budge her fingers, tears started streaming from his eyes. "Damn!  Chichiri!  Nuriko!  Anybody!  I need help here!" He shook Iris again, then clutched her tightly to him, "Please Iris, you have to wake up!  I love you, dammit!" 

Back in the dining room, everyone was still sitting and waiting. 

"I wonder what's taking him so long?" Nuriko asked with a wicked little grin and a wink. 

"Hmm...could be almost..." Elwing started, then gasped as her character blazed to life, "Something is very wrong!" she exclaimed, "Tasuki's extremely upset." 

They all took off at a run toward Iris's room. 

When they got there, Tasuki was holding Iris and rocking back and forth, weeping broken-heartedly. 

"What's wrong?" Elwing asked, laying her hand on Tasuki's shoulder. 

"She used that damn bloody stupid fuckin' crystal, and now she won't wake up!" he wailed, "Dammit, I was supposed to protect her!" 

"Okay Tasuki, it'll be alright.  Just let us help." Nuriko soothed as he pried Tasuki away from Iris so they could see what was wrong.

"Nuriko, would you get Tasuki out of here, he's obviously far too distraught to help, no da." Chichiri pointed out. 

Nuriko nodded and wrapped his arms around Tasuki, dragging him into the hall.  All the seishi except Chichiri and Mitsukake filed out to help try to calm Tasuki down. 

"Dammit, Nuriko, let me go!" Tasuki protested as he struggled to get loose from the strong seishi's grip, "I hafta help her!" his face fell, "I hafta help her." he moaned and went limp in Nuriko's arms. 

Nuriko gently set Tasuki down so he was sitting against a wall and they all sat around him, close by in case he might try to bolt.

"Why are you so upset, Tasuki?" Chiriko asked, "I can understand that you're worried, we all are, but for you it seems to be more than that." 

"I'm supposed to protect Iris, but I just let this happen." Tasuki said, a note of hopelessness in his voice, "I didn't even feel that she was in danger!" 

"Are you sure that's your only reason?" Tamahome asked slyly. 

"Alright, so it's not, but... I love her, damnit!" he shouted, "I love her." he said quietly and burst into tears again. 

"Tasuki, you must have faith in Chichiri, Mitsukake, and Elwing. They'll figure out some way to save Iris." Hotohori reassured him. 

In Iris's room, Elwing, Chichiri, and Mitsukake were hovering over her, trying to figure out exactly what had gone wrong. 

"There's some sort of a tie between her and the crystal, no da." Chichiri said. 

Elwing laid her hand on her friend's forehead and tried to sense her emotional state.  Her eyes went wide and she began to shake. "Oh my Goddess!" she whispered, "How can this be?" 

"What is it, no da?" Chichiri asked her. 

"She's not there.  She's breathing, her heart is beating, but there's no 'self' to be found!" Elwing said, stunned. 

"Perhaps that is the link to the crystal, she must be inside." Mitsukake suggested. 

"That would make sense, no da." 

"Well then, how do we bring her back?" Elwing asked. 

"Someone will have to enter the crystal and tell her what has happened, no da.  Once she knows she's in the crystal, she should be able to return herself to her own body, no da." Chichiri explained. 

"It'll have to be me, then." Elwing resolved. 

Chichiri took off his mask and looked at her gravely. "Are you sure you're ready to do this, no da?" he asked her. 

"Frankly, no, but it doesn't seem like I have much choice.  I'm the only one who can enter the minds of others." 

Chichiri gazed intently at her for a minute. "You'll need an anchor, no da.  Without an anchor you might not be able to find your way back to your own body.  Let me be that anchor, no da." he offered. 

Elwing simply nodded, unable to think of any words to express the love and honour she felt at this offer. She gazed deeply into the eyes of her friend, frightened by their vacancy, then sat down and laid her hands over Iris's. 

Chichiri sat behind her and wrapped his arms around her, concentrating on the bond of love he felt for this brave girl from so far away. 

"I will sustain her body and yours," Mitsukake told Elwing, "but try not to be inside for too long.  Even I can't keep your bodies alive without souls forever." 

Elwing tranced and felt herself being pulled in by the void of Iris's soul-less body, and then from there into the crystal. 

'Bring her back, but come back safely to me, itooshi.' Chichiri thought as he watched Elwing's character appear on and then fade from Iris's body. 

To Elwing, the inside of the crystal appeared identical to the palace. 

"Well, if this is the palace, then Iris will either be in her room or the throne room." Elwing reasoned. Since she was closer to the throne room, she headed in that direction. 

The main difference she noticed between this place and the actual palace was that there were no other people. The hallways were completely empty, so when she heard footsteps coming toward her, she immediately perked up. 'That must be Iris.' she thought. 

But when the owner of the feet came around the corner, Elwing almost dropped to the floor from laughter. It wasn't Iris at all, it was Amelia Wil Tesla Sailune, from The Slayers. 

"You are a vile interloper into Iris's mind!" Amelia shouted, "In the name of Justice I will expel you from this place!" Amelia took a running leap at Elwing, who stood to one side at the last moment and stuck out her foot.  Amelia fell flat on her face and there was an apparition of Gourry poking her with a stick. "If you can defeat me, then your intentions must be good." Amelia said, then they both vanished. 

"Hmm, I guess that must have been part of her mental defenses." Elwing mused. 

She continued on to the throne room.   As she opened the massive double doors, she noticed a girl standing beside the throne.  All she could see was the back of her head, but she looked kindof like Iris. 

"Iris, is that you?" Elwing called out, a little more wary this time. 

"I am a part of her." The girl turned around, "And it's my purpose to protect her mind form intruders." She picked up the long pole-like weapon, which had been leaning against the throne. "I am Sailor Saturn!" she announced and stepped out from behind the curtain which had been partially obscuring her and leveled her Silence Glaive at Elwing. 

"Oh, shit!" muttered Elwing to herself, "Can't you ever think of anything but anime characters, Iris?" She sighed and stepped forward to face Iris's version of the senshi of death and rebirth. 

"In the name of Purity and Sanctity I will banish you from Iris's mind!" Sailor Saturn raised the Silence Glaive above her head. "Silence Glaive Surprise!" she shouted. 

"Oh Hell!" Elwing said, wide-eyed, and ran forward, catching and holding the shaft of the Silence Glaive just behind the blade, halfway down its descending arc.  The two of them struggled for a minute, but their strengths were fairly evenly matched, and the angle of the glaive, since Elwing was taller, was an awkward one from which to exert much force over such a long handle so it was a stalemate. 

"Listen to me," Elwing pleaded, "if you destroy this place, you will break the delicate thread linking Iris back to her body and her soul will wander forever.  Is that what you want?" 

Sailor Saturn looked her in the eyes. "She's not in her body?" 

"No.  An evil spell has trapped her soul within this crystal.  I'm trying to break the spell so she can return." 

"I concede then." Sailor Saturn said, and shifted her grip to raise the Glaive again. Elwing let go and she leaned the Silence Glaive back against the throne.  "Good luck in your quest." Sailor Saturn saluted her, then disappeared. 

"Well, obviously she's not in the throne room." Elwing said, "I guess I should look for her in her bedroom." She turned around and opened the doors to the throne room, which had somehow closed behind her again. 

She stepped out into the hallway, but had only gone a few feet when she felt something knock her down from behind. Lying face-down on the floor, Elwing evaluated her situation. She could feel heavy paws pinning her shoulders, and there was no way she was strong enough to throw the animal off her. 

"What are you doing in Iris's mind?" she heard a vaguely familiar male voice ask from above her. 

"I'm here to help!" she insisted.  The pressure of the paws let up enough for her to turn over and sit up, and she tuned to face her newest opponent. It was what appeared to be a mechanized cheetah. 

'I stand corrected, anime isn't the only thing you think about.' Elwing though with a laugh, 'It would be Cheetor, wouldn't it!' 

"How are you here to help?" Cheetor demanded, "And help with what?" 

"Iris's self, apparently along with all of you, has been imprisoned within a crystal.  I'm here to help her break free." 

"Why should I trust you?" Cheetor asked. 

"Because you know who I am, and you know I would never do anything to hurt Iris." Elwing said calmly. 

"Ultra Gear!  Alright then, I'll help you to help Iris." Cheetor said, and transformed into a blaster. 

Elwing picked the 'Cheetor Blaster' up and headed for Iris's room in this eerie echoing copy of the palace. 

As she passed by the door to the dining room, a puck came flying out and almost hit her on the head. 

"Playing through!" called a young female voice, and out the door came...  Elwing almost fell down laughing once again. It was Gosalyn Mallard from Darkwing Duck.  She had a hockey stick in hand and was skating toward Elwing at breakneck speed on rollerblades. 

"Stop right there!" Elwing cried and leveled the blaster at her. "I don't want to hurt you, but if you get in the way of my helping Iris I will do anything I can to stop you." 

"I'd listen to her." The blaster agreed. 

"Cheetor?" Gosalyn asked, confused, "You're backing her?" 

"Yes, I am." he said firmly. 

"All right, I guess I'll let you go ahead." Gosalyn said to Elwing and vanished. 

"Thanks." Elwing said to Cheetor the blaster. 

"Hey, it's no problem at all." he replied. 

As Elwing turned down the hallway where all the bedrooms of the seishi were located, she was nearly blinded by a bright explosion of light. As she shook off the after-images, she cold see Jubilee from The X-Men standing in the middle of the hallway. 

"You're not a part of Iris's mind!" Jubilee accused, "Get out of here!" she threw another burst of pyrotechnics at Elwing. 

"I'm not the threat, I'm here to help deal with the threat!" Elwing shouted out, slowly moving closer and closer to Iris's door. "You're all trapped with Iris inside this crystal.  Please, you have to believe me and let me help!" Elwing said, blinded by flash after flash of electrostatic light. 

"Why should I trust you?" Jubilee asked suspiciously. 

"What is it with you people and not trusting me?" Elwing asked Cheetor.

"It's our job to be suspicious of anyone sneaking in where they don't belong." he explained. 

"I suppose that makes sense." she acknowledged.  To Jubilee she said, "I would never hurt anyone, or enter their mind uninvited except in dire emergency.  It's part of my religion, you know that!" 

Jubilee let up with the fireworks. "You have a point there." she admitted, "I guess I'll have to let you pass." she said and vanished. 

When they got to the door of Iris's room, Cheetor the blaster said, "Well, I guess this is my last stop."

"What do you mean?" Elwing asked him. 

"I can't go any further into Iris's private space, I'm only one of her outer mind's defenses, and that's her self in there." he explained. 

"Oh, I see.  Well, thanks for your help and support." Elwing said gratefully.

"No problem." the blaster said and disappeared. 

Elwing opened the door to Iris's room and was greeted by an appalling scene of carnage. Charred and mutilated bodies lay strewn across the floor...bodies which looked disturbingly like the Suzaku seishi.  At the back of the room, Iris was hanging in chains on the wall and Tasuki, with an evil gleam in his eyes, was sitting in a chair below her feet, resting his feet up on another and looking altogether very pleased with himself.  Iris looked up and saw her friend standing in the doorway. 

"Elwing? But...how? You're dead!" she moaned, "They're all dead."  She began to weep. 

"All but you and I, my dear." the evil-looking Tasuki agreed. 

Iris began to replay events to herself, and Elwing looked on helplessly as phantom characters played out the scenes which had lead to this one. 

As in the real world, Iris tried to use the crystal.  Nothing seemed to happen at first, but then her door burst open and Tasuki came storming in. "I want to talk to you." he told Iris, "You need to know something." Chains came out of nowhere and strung Iris up as she now appeared. "That crystal was cursed to turn me evil!" he said gleefully, "Those chains will drain you chi, and since fear despair and anger are emotions which feed me now, I think I'll have a little fun with my former comrades." 

As he said this, Tamahome came running in. "What's wrong?" he asked, "I sensed evil!" 

"That would be me, Obake-chan. Lekka Shin'en!" Tasuki swept the Tessen down and sent an intense wave of flame at Tamahome, who choked a few times, then keeled over. 

"I've always wanted to do that." Tasuki chuckled. 

Iris was too shocked to even say anything. 

Now Hotohori came through the door. "That's it, Tasuki, you've crossed the line.  Killing one of your fellow seishi is a transgression I will not forgive." he said accusingly as he looked sadly at Tamahome's immolated corpse. Grimly Hotohori drew his Shinken. 

Tasuki tightened the Tessen's pleats until it was as sharp and deadly as any shortsword and the two of them faced off.  After a few rushing attacks, Tasuki ducked low as he passed by Hotohori and stabbed the Tessen deep into his side, hitting directly into the kidney. He then changed the angle until he found the aorta against the spinal column and severed it.  Hotohori fell to his knees and dropped his sword, then fell flat on his face, blood gushing from his side. 

Tasuki looked at the bloody tessen in his hand, then at the Shinken. "I think I'll take that." He said, sheathing the Tessen after wiping it clean on Hotohori's sleeve. 

In through the open door came the rest of the seishi and Elwing.  They took in the two dead seishi on the floor and Tasuki's maniacal grin in one glance and formed up to face off against him.  Nuriko was the first to attack, throwing a heavy table at Tasuki, but he dodged, and with seemingly inhuman speed sliced Nuriko across the belly. 

"Remind you of anything?" he asked nastily as Nuriko struggled to hold the slippery sides of his wound together. 

Mitsukake reached out to try to heal Nuriko, but Tasuki clicked his tongue at the healer. 

"Oh no you don't." he said.  Moving again almost faster than the eye could follow, he sheared off Mitsukake's left hand, then stabbed him through the heart. 

Nuriko slid to his knees and flopped onto his side as Mitsukake dropped in a boneless heap beside him.  Iris finally started screaming and Tasuki turned around. 

"Oh shut up, would you?  You're always chattering away," he said critically.  Out of nowhere a gag tied itself over Iris's mouth. 

Chiriko was staring at Tasuki, stunned, while Chichiri chanted to try to loosen Iris's chains. "How could you do this, Tasuki?" Chiriko asked, "I've always respected you, how could you..." 

"Oh you just shut up too." Tasuki growled and with one clean swipe cut off Chiriko's head. 

While he had been doing this, the memory Elwing had snuck around to try to get closer to Iris, staying up against the wall to guard her back. 

"I see you." Tasuki said evilly and ran at her with the Shinken raised. 

"No!" Chichiri cried out and ran in front of Elwing.  Tasuki didn't even slow for a second, and the ultra-sharp sword slid cleanly through both of their hearts, pinning them to the wall as though they were insects on display. 

"Well," Tasuki chuckled, "they wanted to be together, so I suppose they got their wish." He went over and removed the gag from Iris's mouth, but all she could do was weep broken-heartedly. 

The real Elwing had to suppress the urge to gag or scream or run, crying, out of there as fast as she could. 'It's not real.' she reminded herself, then said it out loud, "It's not real, Iris! This is all an illusion!" 

"An illusion?" Iris looked up weakly. 

"Yes, an illusion!" Elwing cried. 

"Damn you!" swore Tasuki, and shot a wave of fire at her, but it rebounded off a barrier which surrounded her. 

"You're inside the crystal!" Elwing said, willing her friend to believe, "That isn't the real Tasuki, he's an imposter.  The real Tasuki would never do such things!" 

"You're right." Iris said slowly, "The real Tasuki wouldn't do things like that." She seemed to strengthen. "You aren't Tasuki, who are you?" she asked, turning to her captor.

 'Tasuki' laughed evilly. "So, you've seen through my little ploy, have you?  I suppose I'll have to introduce myself then." He seemed to slide liquidly until he was a tall man with mauve, floor-length hair. "I am the evil God Tenkou, Taiitsukun's opposite," he said, bowing mockingly to them both, "and I shall destroy you!" 

"Oh no you won't." Elwing said firmly, "Iris, this is all happening in your mind, only you can banish this 'Tenkou'." 

"You're right." Iris agreed.  Angrily she looked at Tenkou. "Get the hell out of my head!" she yelled at him. 

Tenkou only laughed, and threw a bolt of mauve energy at Elwing, which was again blocked by her shield. 

"Remember what he said!" Elwing shouted, "Anger and fear feed him! You have to stay calm!" 

"But how do you calmly banish someone from you mind?!" Iris asked, "This will never work." She sagged despairingly in her chains and Tenkou grinned. 

"You can't give up!" Elwing pleaded, "Think of Tasuki…  The real Tasuki!  He loves you, he said so himself!  You're not going to let yourself die in here and never see him again, are you?" she cajoled. 

"He loves me?" Iris perked up. 

"Yes, he does!" Elwing assured her, "He loves you very much, he just couldn't bring himself to admit it.  He was beside himself when he found your comatose body.  You have to go back to him!" 

"I have to go back to him." Iris agreed resolutely. "Tenkou, in the name of love, of my love for Tasuki, I banish you from my mind." She said firmly.

Instantly Tenkou disappeared. "Don't think you've seen the last of me little girls." His voice came floating back as the constructed crystal-world began to dissolve. 

Elwing felt something tugging at her, and she grabbed hold of Iris as they were pulled back into Iris's body.  For a minute, Elwing was confused and disoriented. 

Chichiri saw both characters light on Iris's body and knew he had to call Elwing back to herself. He reached out with his mind the way she had described doing when she used her power and called, 'Itooshi, this way, follow me home!' 

Elwing heard his call and turned toward the voice of her love, finding the thin thread connecting back to her own body.  Once she was there, she almost fainted, but was wrapped safely in Chichiri's arms and he held her tight. 

"You did well, no da." he congratulated her, "Now I think it's time for bed, no da." He scooped her up into his arms and carried her into her own room, leaving the door open so she could see Iris being checked out by Mitsukake.  Within seconds of her head hitting the pillow, Elwing was sound asleep, encouraged by one of Chichiri's sleeping spells.  Chichiri brushed a stray lock of hair off her face and kissed her forehead, then returned to Iris's room and closed the door. 

"We should let Tasuki know she's all right." Mitsukake indicated the sleeping Iris.  "Otherwise he might just burn down the palace by sheer worry."

"I'll do that, no da." Chichiri said. He put on his mask, then went out into the hall, and five hopeful faces looked up at him. 

"Is she... " Tasuki started. 

"She's going to be alright, no da." Chichiri confirmed.

Tasuki's face lit up with joy. "I'll sit with her." he said, and quickly went in to relieve Mitsukake, who, understanding how he felt (everyone had heard him yelling about those feelings) left and closed the door. 

"You should stay with Elwing." Mitsukake said to Chichiri, "She used a lot of her energy, and I want to be sure she's grounded back within herself.   We'll bring you four lunch." he escorted the rest of the seishi back to the dining room. 

Tasuki sat on the edge of Iris's bed, stroking her hair over and over. "I almost lost you!  Damnit, I should have felt something!  I should have known you were in danger!" he slammed his fist against his thigh. "Why the Hell didn't I feel anything?!" 

Iris moaned and he quickly shut up.  A soft knock came at the door. 

"It's just Nuriko and I." Tamahome said, "We've brought some lunch."

"I don't want to eat right now, but put it on the table, Iris'll probably be hungry when she wakes up." Tasuki said without turning to look at them. 

They slipped in quietly and left as soon as they had put the trays down, but they only went as far as the other side of the door, where they listened intently. 

Iris stirred and began to wake. "Tasuki?" she said blearily.

"Shh... I'm here." he reassured her, stroking her hand. 

"It all seemed so real!" she said. 

"I'm sorry.  I should have helped you." Tasuki apologized. 

"Why?  What could you have done?" Iris asked, only half awake. 

"Why?  Because I love you, dammit, that's why!" Tasuki said, a tear or two trickling down his cheek.  Angrily he dashed them away. "It doesn't fuckin' matter what I could have ... " he stopped when he looked at Iris and saw that she was crying. "What's wrong?" he asked, concerned, "Did I say something wrong? You're in love with Nuriko, aren't you?" he said, looking away to hide his own tears. 

Iris sat up, still weeping. "No, I'm not in love with him, how could I be?  I've loved only you from the first moment I set eyes on you!  But... I thought... I thought you HATED me!" she wailed. 

Tasuki hugged her tightly and kissed her cheek. "Of course I don't hate you." he fiercely reassured her, "I might not have realized how I felt at first, but I never hated you.  I'm just too much of a fuckin' idiot to say it is all." 

She sniffled and stopped crying. "Really?" she asked. 

"Really." he assured her, "But I feel awful.  I didn't even know you were in danger! I should have helped you!" 

"Oh, but you did." Iris told Tasuki, "In the crystal, Elwing told me you loved me, and even though I didn't quite believe her, my love for you was enough to banish the evil from my mind." she looked deep into his eyes, "Thank you." she said. 

"You ... you're welcome." Tasuki stammered, once again mesmerized by the rainbow-like quality of her eyes. Suddenly shy, he stood up. "I should go and let you eat your lunch." he said softly, "You'll probably want to sleep some more." 

He leaned over to kiss her on the forehead, and his shadow falling across her made her look up.  They touched lips.  Both were initially startled, but then love and passion conquered their shyness, and the kiss continued, Iris slipping her arms around Tasuki as he sat back down on the bed and pulled her to him. 

The long silence piqued the interest of Nuriko and Tamahome, who were still listening, and they opened the door just a crack and peeked in.  When they saw Iris and Tasuki locked deeply in a passionate kiss, they were barely able to contain their giggles long enough to close the door and run down the hall before they exploded. 

"Well, it looks like Tasuki has lost his hatred of women!" Tamahome pointed out gleefully. 

After a couple of minutes, Tasuki and Iris broke off the kiss, both red-faced. 

"I... I guess I should...go..." Tasuki said reluctantly. 

"I... I suppose so..." Iris agreed half-heartedly. 

Tasuki walked to the door.  As he was going out, he turned around and looked back at her. "I love you." he said, quick and low, and blushed again. 

"I love you too." Iris whispered back, also blushing. 

Tasuki walked down the hall to his own room in a daze, his mind still lost in the sweet kiss he had shared and the joy and release of admitting his feelings.  Unaware of his surroundings, he bumped into the still-giggling Nuriko and Tamahome. "Oh, sorry." he said vacantly and walked on. 

Tamahome grinned wickedly at Nuriko, who laid a brotherly arm over Tasuki's shoulder. 

"You seem a little distracted." Nuriko said. 

"Hmm?" Tasuki looked up for a second, then his eyes glazed over again. 

"Does she have sweet lips?" Tamahome asked oh-so-innocently.

Tasuki sighed, blushing. "She's perfect.  She has the tenderest, most beautiful, sweetest..." He broke off as he realized what he was saying and glared at Tamahome.  "Where the Hell do you get off askin' that question, Obake-chan!" he growled possessively, "Her lips are none of your fuckin' business!" 

Tamahome laughed and held his hands up in a gesture of apology. "She's all yours, don't worry, I was just teasing you." he assured the fiery-haired seishi. 

"We're just happy for you, ne, Tamahome?" Nuriko grinned, patting Tasuki on the shoulder. 

Tasuki grinned a little sheepishly, then his gaze abstracted again and he wandered into his room. 

"I guess he didn't want lunch after all." Nuriko said to Tamahome and the two of them left laughing and went to eat their own lunches with the others.  

Hey, another little warning, this one more about the posting schedule.  I have been having major computer troubles (basically my computer is dying a slow and agonizing death) so _hopefully_ I will be able to keep to my schedule, but please understand, if Chapter 11 isn't out next Tuesday, it isn't because I don't want to post it then, okay?  I'll honestly try my best to get it out, but no guarantees from now until I manage to get a new compy -_-;;;  Wish me luck, minna!

The frustrated kitsune


	12. Chapter 11: Lonliness

And here it is, the last of the previously published stuff!  And good news, Chapter 12 is looking like it will be ready on time for next week, barring any computer troubles!  This chapter is also the beginning of the second section of the story, **Journeys Home**, and starts a new series of events.  For the next seven chapters each chapter focuses on one Seishi, and I hope you all agree with my interpretations of their personalities.  Please remember that when I started writing this, only Genrou Den was out, so there wasn't the background on some of the characters that there is now, and I'm continuing to ignore the Gaiden, since I already had things planned out which were contradicted, think of it as slightly AU, although I do try to keep things canon as much as I can from my jumping off point.

Alright, I'll shut up now and let you get on to the rest of the story!

Chapter 11: 

Loneliness

The next day, Nuriko was wandering the halls of the palace, looking much more subdued than his usual flamboyantly happy self.  Everywhere servants were busily hanging coloured lamps and bright pennants, even the guards were helping, and each one of them just made him that little bit sadder.  He sighed as he passed an open door, so completely lost in his own mournful thoughts that he didn't notice that he had wandered into the Imperial suite. 

Houki heard him sigh and looked out her door. "Oh, hello Nuriko.  Were you looking for my husband for something?" she called out to him. 

Nuriko jumped at this sudden intrusion of his solitude. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize where I was wandering.  I wasn't looking for anyone in particular, just walking and thinking. I'll go now."  He sighed again and turned around. 

As he turned he caught a glimpse of Houki out of the corner of his eye and almost began to cry.  Houki saw the brightness of unshed tears in his eyes and was genuinely puzzled. 

"Wait!" she recalled him, "Come in here for a minute." 

Nuriko turned back and, keeping his gaze averted, went to stand before Houki. 

"Why are you so sad?" she asked. 

"Because tomorrow would have been Kourin's twentieth birthday..." he explained, "It'll be the first time in eleven years that…" he couldn't hold the tears back any longer, and they began streaming down his face. 

"Sit down and tell me something." Houki ordered. 

Nuriko sat down on some cushions and looked briefly at the Empress sitting on a stool before her vanity. "What do you want to know?" he asked. 

"Who is Kourin?" 

Nuriko took a deep breath and stifled his crying.  "Kourin was my younger sister.  She and I were almost like twins we looked so much alike.  We did everything together, but when I was ten and she was nine, she died, and I couldn't do anything to save her.  I couldn't accept her death, so I became Kourin in her place.  That's why I was at the palace as a princess of the inner court." Nuriko explained, "You look so much like I imagine she would have, had she lived." He had to look away again while he composed himself.  "What are all the decorations for?" he asked, trying to change the subject. 

"Tomorrow is my birthday." Houki explained, "I'll be twenty."

Nuriko just looked at her, too stunned to say anything. 

"I'm sorry, that probably didn't make you any happier." Houki apologized. 

"What was your family like?" Nuriko asked suddenly, "If you don't think it too rude of me to ask."

"Not at all, I don't mind. I was the only child of rich parents.  I always wished I could have had brothers and sisters, but it was a miracle that my Mother conceived even me, since until then it had been thought that she was barren.  I had everything I might wish for growing up, but I was very lonely." She sighed. 

Nuriko thought for a minute, then he smiled.  "As a special early birthday present, I'll be your big brother.  If you'll have me, that is." he offered. 

Houki smiled. "I would love that!" she said happily. 

Nuriko took his leave of her then, still a little saddened, but feeling better about things. 

In another hallway later that day, a girl was peeking around a corner. When she saw no guards, she slipped into the hall where the shichiseishi's rooms were.  She was a determined young woman, and she had a mission.  She was adamant that this time she would find the Suzaku seishi Chiriko. She remembered glimpsing him once or twice over two years ago, and she remembered how much in awe of him she had been, how the sight of him had stirred something fluttering to life in her heart.  When her brother told her that Chiriko had died she had cried for months, longer even than she had later cried at her own brother's death. She knew he wouldn't look exactly the same as when she had last seen him, but she was pretty sure she could find him.  The first door she came to was closed and there didn't seem to be anyone in the room, but the next door was open just a crack.  She peeked in and saw a lamp shining on a writing desk, but no one was in the room. Hearing footsteps down the hall, the girl panicked and slipped into the room and closed the door. She listened fearfully as the footsteps came up to the door of the room she was hiding in and stopped.  The door creaked open and the girl cowered behind a swag of bed-curtain, wishing desperately to be anywhere but here.  

Chiriko shook his head. "I could have sworn I left the door open." he said as he picked his tray of food back up and walked into his room.  He put the tray down on his desk and turned back around to close the door… and ran smack into the girl trying to escape without being noticed. 

"You again!  What are you doing here?" Chiriko asked, surprised. 

The girl who called herself Tia looked wildly at the door, but Chiriko wouldn't let her go. Holding her firmly by the arm, he closed the door. 

"It's alright, I promised I wouldn't report you to the guards, remember?" he reassured her. 

"I'm looking for…"

"The Suzaku seishi Chiriko." he finished for her. 

"Yes." she said, "You remembered!" She averted her eyes and blushed, "You wouldn't know where he is, would you?" she asked hopefully. 

"I was going to tell you the other day, but you ran off before I could say anything. You've found him. I'm Chiriko." he said. 

Tia sat down with a thump on his bed. "Forgive me!  I should have recognized you right away.  After all, my br… that is, His Majesty said you had grown and aged just as you should have if you had never died." she said, unable to look at him. 

Chiriko sat down on the bed beside her. "Why were you looking for me?" he asked. 

"I always wanted to meet you, but I was only twelve, no one would let me out of the women's quarters.  My brother was kind, though, he always used to tell me stories about you. How smart and brave you were…"  Tia blushed and turned away. 

Chiriko blushed as well. "Who are you?" he asked. 

"Me?  Oh, I'm nobody important." she insisted, still unable to meet Chiriko's gaze. 

"I couldn't find a record of anyone near my age named Tia on any of the palace records, though." Chiriko objected, "Won't you at least tell me your real name?" he asked seriously, catching one of her hands in both of his. 

She was silent for a long moment.  Finally she spoke. "Everyone calls me Tia, but my name is really Tiamensa." she explained. 

"But…" Chiriko was stunned, "There's only one girl named Tiamensa.  You can't be…"

Tia started to cry. "I knew it.  I knew you'd hate me once I told you.  Everyone does except my big brother." 

Chiriko took her face in his hands and turned her to look at him. "I'm just surprised, that's all." he said seriously, "No one ever told me Hotohori's little sister was even more beautiful than him." He realized what he had just said and blushed as his hands began to shake.  He clasped them together in his lap and now he was the one who couldn't meet her gaze.  "I mean…that is…what I meant to say was…" he couldn't think of anything to say and the words trailed off. 

'I have to go. If I'm gone for too long they might miss me.  I'm not even supposed to leave the inner court." she said, sounding scared. 

"I'll make sure you get there without running into any guards." Chiriko offered and stood up. 

Tia acknowledged his gesture by standing up as well, and Chiriko escorted her back to the inner court, neither of them saying a word. 

The following morning dawned bright and clear, the perfect day to celebrate the birth of an Empress. Elwing was just waking up when her door burst open and a two-year-old ball of energy landed on her bed.  

One of the servants came in right behind him.   "I'm sorry, Lady Elwing, I couldn't stop him." the servant apologized. 

"It's all right." Elwing waved, "I don't mind.  Would you please close the door?" she asked. 

The servant left and closed the door behind him. 

'Good morning, Sunshine.' she said, 'How come you came to see me so early?' 

'It's Mommy's birthday!' Boushin grinned. 

'Really?  Is that why the palace is all decorated?  I had no idea!' Elwing teased. 

Boushin gave her an exasperated look. 

'What are you doing for her?' Elwing asked. 

'That's what I wanted to talk to you about.' Boushin said hesitantly, 'I thought maybe I would talk today.' 

Elwing grinned and gave him a hug. 'That's the most wonderful present a mother could get!' she told him. 

'Do you think I'll be able to do it?' he asked uncertainly. 

'Of course you can.' Elwing reassured him, 'I did.  You can make sounds, right?'

Boushin nodded. 

'Well then, it shouldn't be a problem.  Don't worry if it doesn't come out sounding exactly right at first.  She'll love it even if you don't get the words sounding exactly right.'  Elwing hugged Boushin again, then started to get up. 'I have to get dressed now.' she told him, 'You should get ready for the party.' 

'Okay!' Boushin grinned. 

After lunch, there was a small party held by the seishi before the evening's big, impersonal feast. 

"Thank you all so much for your kind gifts." Houki said to everyone, "And thank you for accepting me as part of your group." She looked around at everyone and when she caught Nuriko's eye she smiled. 

Elwing looked over at Boushin, who hadn't yet given his "present." 

'Now?' he asked uncertainly. 

'No better time.' she said. 

Boushin walked up to his mother and tugged on the skirt of her robe. 

"Did you want to be picked up, Darling?" she asked him. 

Boushin shook his head. "Hap…py Bith…dy…" he said hesitantly.  'That didn't sound right.' he said to Elwing. 

'It sounded just fine.' she reassured him, 'Why don't you try again?' 

"Happy Bithday." Boushin said again, more clearly than the last time. 

"Oh my dear little one!" Houki said happily as she picked her son up and hugged him. 

"He can talk!" Tasuki said, stating the obvious in his surprise. 

"Um hm.  I jis ne'er… tied befoe." Boushin said hesitantly. 

Hotohori grinned proudly. "You speak very well, son." he said. 

"It's the best birthday present I could ever ask for." Houki said happily. 

Everyone congratulated the young prince and his parents, and the party broke up soon after so that they could all dress for dinner. 

When Elwing and Iris got back to their rooms they found formal court gowns laid out and maids waiting to dress them.  After an hour or so of poking and prodding, wrapping and pinning, the two young women were deemed ready to go to dinner. 

About five minutes after the maids left, Elwing looked up at a knock on her door. "Come in." she called. 

Chichiri opened the door and stood admiring her for a second.  As she did him. 

"I've never seen you wear formal court robes before!" she said, a little stunned.  He was wearing robes such as she had seen many of the advisers and ministers wearing, but overtop were his prayerbeads, and she smiled. "I guess some things don't change." she said, reaching out to run her fingers over the beads. 

"I feel odd, no da." Chichiri admitted, "I haven't worn anything but my monk's robes in years.  The empress asked me to, though, so this is kind of part of my birthday present to her, no da." 

Elwing kissed him lightly, careful not to smudge makeup on him. "I think you look just as handsome as always." she reassured him, "Maybe even more so, if that's possible.  I don't know about this dress myself, though." she said uncertainly. 

"You look wonderful in it.  Everyone will think you're a princess, no da." 

Elwing blushed.  "Maybe," she said reluctantly, "but how am I supposed to walk in it?" 

Chichiri just smiled and held out his arm. "I won't let you trip, no da." 

Iris stood by her dressing-table, unwilling to sit down for fear of wrinkling her gown. She heard the knock at Elwing's door, and was about to move over closer to the connecting door when a knock came at her own door.  She walked carefully over and opened the door to see Tasuki standing there. 

"How did they get you into court robes?" she asked in surprise, reaching out and running her hand down his sleeve. 

"I figured they'd probably dress you up in some kind of a formal gown or something, and I wanted us to match." Tasuki said a little sheepishly. He stood back and looked Iris up and down. "Damn you look good." he said, "You look like a fuckin' princess!" He reached out and clasped his hands around her upper arms and pulled her toward him.  He hugged her and tucked her head under his chin. 

"It feels so good to be close to you." Iris sighed as she wrapped her arms around him… then yelped as she banged the nerve plexus in her elbow on something hidden beneath Tasuki's robe. "Ouch!" she laughed, "What the…" 

Tasuki looked a little sheepish and flipped the corner of the robe open to reveal his tessen strapped to his thigh. "I never feel right going anywhere without it." he admitted. 

Iris reached up and pulled his face down to kiss him.  Tasuki carefully didn't smudge her makeup as they kissed. "Mmm…" Iris sighed, "It's nice to know I have someone there ready to protect me though." 

Tasuki took her hand and draped it over his arm the way Nuriko had coached him. "We should get going." he said. 

This was the first large formal banquet the girls had been to since their arrival on this world, and they were both very impressed.  Elwing was a little overawed by the sheer number of people and the white noise of half a hundred different conversations, not to mention a fairly wide spectrum of broadcast emotions, so in defense she went into silent mode.  Iris, on the other hand, although also a little stunned, adjusted somewhat better to the crowd. 

"Are you alright, no da?" Chichiri asked his silent dinner companion about halfway through the meal. 

She smiled ruefully back at him. "There are days when I might wish this new power of mine came with an on/off switch." she admitted.  All of a sudden her eyes widened, "And apparently this _isn't_ one of them!" she exclaimed. 

"What is it, no d… " Chichiri stopped as he too felt the evil ki whose emotions she had sensed.  It was similar to what he had felt in the tunnels, but certainly not identical. "Heika!" he cried, but Hotohori and the other seishi were already on the alert as well. 

They all wildly scanned the room to find the source of the disturbance. 

"Over there!" Iris pointed to the back of the hall where a ripple of fear seemed to be moving through the diners. 

"Stay here, no da." Chichiri laid his hand briefly on Elwing's arm, then touched her face before standing up and heading to where the disturbance was. 

"I'll be right back." Tasuki grinned fiercely. 

Iris caught his face between her hands and looked deeply into his eyes. "Safely, Love." was all she said. 

Tasuki nodded and went to join the others, tessen ready. 

It soon became apparent that the creature which had caused the disturbance was anything but human. What it most closely resembled was a bulldog… if bulldogs were greenish-gray and scaly, with rats' tails and were also the size of small ponies. 

"What the Hell is that thing?" Tasuki shouted. 

"How am I supposed to know?" Tamahome asked, a little indignant. 

"It seems to be a minor demon, no da." Chichiri said. 

"Fine then, I know what to do." Tasuki said, "LEKKA SHIN'EN!" A blaze of fire surrounded the beast, but it emerged unharmed.  "What the fuck?" Tasuki exclaimed, dismayed.

Chichiri tried to mutter a spell of binding, but it sloughed that off too. 

"It's a demon, you say?" Mitsukake asked Chichiri.  When he received a confirming nod from the monk, who was concentrating on at least holding the panicked dinner guests back from the scene of the melee, Mitsukake stood up straighter and held out his left hand.  "YOUMA MESSYOU!" he incanted. Warm green energies flowed out and pulled at the essence of the demon, but still it emerged virtually unscathed. 

Elwing could see that things weren't going exactly as planned, and all of a sudden something occurred to her. When she had first sensed the demon, it had had a distinct flavouring of loneliness to it, and it had seemed oddly familiar.  Now she knew what it was... 

"Hotohori!" she cried, both vocally and mentally.  When she saw she had caught his attention, she called out to him, "This is YOUR demon!  No one can slay it but you!" 

Hotohori looked momentarily puzzled, but he drew his Shinken and faced off against the beast, which was now ignoring everyone but him. Hotohori rushed the demon, and it seemed almost to welcome the blade which pierced it. As he stabbed his Shinken deep into the beast's heart, he was bombarded with images from his past. 

To everyone watching, it seemed as though the demon dissolved into a mist, which surrounded the young Emperor. 

"But Mother, why can't I play with Roushikou and Ougi?" a young Hotohori asked plaintively. 

"Saihitei, I've explained all this to you before.  Roushikou and Ougi are the sons of concubines; they are not worthy of you.  Besides, you don't have the time to waste on playing silly games like they do, you must learn to be a great emperor." His mother chastised him. 

Later that night, when he was sure no one was around to hear him, he wept.  He was only three, and he didn't understand why everything had to be so hard. 

The others watched helplessly as Hotohori collapsed to his knees, weeping, still confined within the dark fog.  Elwing probed his mind to try to find out what was wrong, and what she felt there shocked her. 

"It's not gone!" she exclaimed, running forward to the seishi, "It's attacking his mind." she said as she came up to Chichiri, "It has changed forms, and it seems to be holding him trapped within memories."

"Memories of what, no da?"

"I don't know, but they certainly aren't happy ones.  The trouble is, I have no idea how to get him back, or defeat the demon." 

"But I do." Iris cut in, "I only just understood now.  The only way we can break him out of this is to share his memories and help him to put them behind him." she explained. 

"Oh, so the mist is kinda like a physical manifestation of Jung's 'shadow' then?" Elwing said. 

"Um, I guess so, whatever you say oh overeducated one.  Maybe you'd like to do something about it?" she pointed out. 

"Oh, right." Elwing said shamefacedly, "How do you think we should do this?" 

"You will have to form a link between Hotohori and the rest of us, no da." Chichiri said. 

Elwing thought for a second. "Alright, this is how we're going to do this." she said, "I'll hold onto Hotohori's shoulders, then all of you touch me and concentrate on seeing through my eyes." 

Elwing stood behind Hotohori and placed her hands on his shoulders, then the other seishi and Iris gathered around her and placed their hands on her arms and shoulders. She slipped herself partly into Hotohori's mind, and used the rest of her awareness to project what she saw there. 

"Come on, son, it's time for you to go visit your father." Hotohori's mother said as she dragged a reluctant five-year-old behind her. 

"Must I, Mother?" young Saihitei complained. 

"You will visit him, and you will kneel respectfully and say nothing unless you are questioned." she said firmly. 

Saihitei kneeled, head bowed, on a cushion in front of the Emperor for almost half an hour until his father finally deigned to notice him. 

"I am told you have been excelling in your lessons with the sword." The emperor said. 

"Yes, Heika-sama." 

"You are five years old now?"

"Yes, Heika-sama." 

"Your tutors tell me you have an understanding of writings, and that you have been learning from religious texts." 

"Yes, Heika-sama."

"That must be corrected.  I will instruct them that you are to be taught from historical texts.  If you are to follow me, you must know how to rule." 

"Yes, Heika-sama." 

With that, the Emperor went back to reading his reports, leaving his young son to kneel for another ten minutes.  Finally he looked up again. "You may go now." he said. 

"Yes, Heika-sama." Saihitei bowed low, then backed out the door. 

This was a scene which was repeated every three months.  Besides that, young Saihitei only saw his father during necessary Imperial ceremonies.  He often wished he wasn't the heir, since he had so little freedom.

Things continued like that until he was twelve, when the Emperor's health began to decline.  Saihitei, or Hotohori, as he was now wont to refer to himself, was now a beautiful young man, and an expert with the graceful, dancelike movements of a swordsman.  He was a studious young man, and everyone expected him to make a very good emperor, but he was also very quiet.  He rarely seemed to smile or laugh, and although few people knew, he cried himself to sleep almost every night. 

In what little independent thought was left to her, Elwing rebelled. 'It can't all have been bad!' she objected. Reaching out to the others, she called, 'Now!  Lend me your strength!'

All their characters blazed and Elwing felt an incredible rush of loving, supportive energy flow through her.  She began to search through Hotohori's memories for feelings of happiness.  Sensing one, she stretched her mental fingers in and teased it loose to play as the unhappy memories had. 

Young Saihitei, only three years old, was playing with his older half-brothers (before his mother had forbidden this) and Ougi deliberately tripped him.  He got really mad at this. 

"You're mean!" he said, picking up a stick as though it were a sword and dropping instinctively into the closest a three-year-old could get to a fighting stance as, for the first time, "Sei" burned brightly on his neck.  Both his brothers seemed stunned, and they ran away, wide-eyed with fear as though Saihitei was a kitten which had suddenly become a tiger before their eyes.

Later that evening, the Imperial Master of Scrolls was sent to him. The master of scrolls was a kindly old man who knew all the legends of Konan-koku inside out.  He sat by the young prince's bedside and explained to him what it meant to bear the character of one of the Suzaku no shichiseishi. 

After this, Elwing teased forth another happy memory, noting as she did so that the black fog was becoming less. 

When he was six years old, Hotohori got another half-sister.  He was still young enough then to enter the inner parts of the women's quarters, although only barely, and he wanted to see what this new sister looked like. He'd found that he liked sisters better than brothers, since his one younger sister Obaiya was already much prettier than all his brothers put together, although not, his mother told him, prettier than he. 

"May I see her?" he asked the maid in a whisper. 

"Of course!" she smiled. 

He'd long ago charmed the maids, and they all thought him absolutely darling.  The maid reached into the cradle and lifted out a beautiful baby girl only a few days old. 

"What's her name?" he asked as he lightly stroked her soft tuft of dark hair. 

"Her mother calls her Tiamensa." The nurse shook her head, "It's an odd name, but her mother is from a distant land, and it doesn't matter to Kotei-heika-sama what his daughters' names are."

Saihitei was fascinated with his little half-sister, making a habit of sneaking in to spend time with her, and she in turn idolized him.  Even when he grew too old to go into the women's quarters he disguised himself as a girl to continue to visit with her.  Those stolen hours with little Tiamensa were one of his only freedoms and joys. 

The day after his coronation he sat with her early in the morning, before anyone expected him to be up. 

"Oniisama," Tia said hesitantly. 

"Yes?" 

"What does it mean that you are one of the Suzaku no Shichiseishi and also the Emperor now?" 

Hotohori sighed. "I don't know if the two positions will interfere with each other, but I fear it will likely be so. How will I protect the Miko if I cannot travel with her?  For what purpose did I perfect my skills as a swordsman if not to protect her wherever she may need to be?" he sighed and bowed his head, and Tia patted his hand. 

"It will all work out, you'll see." she said reassuringly. 

"I hope you are right."

Little talks like that were the one thing which kept the young Emperor from completely giving up on ever being happy. 

Suddenly there was a flare of red light.  When everyone could see again, Hotohori was smiling and all the seishi were clapping him on the back and congratulating him, taking what seemed to the guests to be extreme liberties with the person of the Emperor. They were a close-knit group, though, and the thoughts of others didn't matter to them. 

Elwing smiled weakly at them all.  "So glad to be of service." she said and slumped down toward the floor. 

Chichiri caught her and looked pleadingly over at Hotohori. "Heika, if you will excuse me…" 

"Of course.  Go!  Take good care of her, her continued good health is much more important than her attendance at this feast.  She just saved my sanity, if not my life."

Chichiri smiled at that, and the two of them disappeared into his kasa as he took her back to her room the quickest way he knew. 

The guests were calmed down and the feast continued, but the heart wasn't really in it, and most of the people left earlier than they had expected to.  Hotohori and Houki didn't really mind, though. 

"What was that thing?" Houki asked when they were finally back in their room and had dismissed the servants. 

"It was some kind of demon." Hotohori explained, "Were you frightened by it, love?" he asked, seeing the look on her face. 

"I was frightened I might loose you again!  I only just got you back!  You must promise me you will not part from me." Houki said, looking earnestly into her husband's eyes. 

"I promise.  This is my birthday present to you; I promise I will take care when I must face demons and other such powerful enemies, and I promise that, no matter what, I will always return to you." Hotohori swore solemnly.  He gazed deeply into his wife's beautiful ultramarine eyes, then kissed her and began unpinning her hair, sending its dark purple waves cascading down over her shoulders.  He led her to bed, and there kept a promise of a different kind. 

"Happy Birthday." he whispered.  

Um, yes, as you can see there is a place for a lemon here.  Always intended to write it, but I never did…but that's alright, maybe if I get further along and need a mental break I'll write it and post it on my website or something…

In any case…

Hope you all enjoyed Chapter 11, and I'll see you all in a week!

The overworked kitsune


End file.
